Strangers Like Me
by princessyuki08
Summary: After being raised by her grandfather for most of her life, Tia Whitmore has longed for adventure. Unbeknownst to her, that adventure comes with a price: a bodyguard with a talent for explosives.
1. The Granddaughter

_"…in a single day and night of misfortune, the island of Atlantis disappeared into the depths of the sea." – Plato, 360 B.C. _

**Chapter One: The Granddaughter**

'Ring around the rosie... Pockets full of posies... Ashes... Ashes... We all fall down...'

I never truly found out that that song was about death till I was nine. As I watched my house burn down while I was being taken away by the Thatches, Ring Around the Rosie burned in my mind. Thanks to the Thatches, I got out safely. My family went with the house that night. I stayed with Milo and his family that night and the next day.

The next night Mr. Thatch took me to my grandfather's. I had seen my grandfather once every Christmas. As a kid, he seem odd, but content. He was wealthy, how could he not be somewhat happy and eccentric. That night was the first time we were together and it wasn't Christmas. He held me close that night and I just cried. After a while I started to make friends, well, a friend. Anna was the only girl I let get to know me. She was the one I got all of my advice from. Her father was a wealthy man who hated it when she got into trouble. And I got us into trouble a lot.

-1900-

"Tia, I'm not sure about this." Anna said as she climbed out of the window.

"Do you know that you say that every time we sneak out?" I asked her a little annoyed.

"Yes." She replied. She jumped from the ledge outside my window to the strong branch of the tree next to my window. "With good reason."

"If you're so opposed to sneaking out, why do you come?" I asked her as I made my way down.

"Who else is supposed to keep you out of trouble?" She smiled. I laughed at her question. Her keep me out of trouble? She got us into more trouble. She changed the subject. "So what's the plan?"

"Um…"

"You don't have a plan?!" She exclaimed.

"Hey, I'm making this up as I go." I replied, "Do you want the guards to hear you?" I sighed, "I can't believe at my age Grandfather still has guards looking after me. Do you know why that is?"

"Do you want the short list or the long?" She asked.

"Whatever."

"Alphabetically or Chronologically?"

"Does it matter?"

"Well, there's the fact you've been sneaking off since you were young, running away from nannies, and governesses, and tutors-"

"I didn't need them, everything I needed to learn from them I could find in the library."

"There's the fact you're unmarried-"

"As are you, Anna." I interjected

"There's a difference between you and me, you harshly reject any suitor that comes to see you, I, on the other hand, give them a chance before I decide to reject them."

I made it down to the ground, "How do I harshly reject them? I'm honest. And they're only in it for the money anyway so why give them a chance. Finding a man, or any person not interested in money, is like a finding a squirrel without a tail, or a perfect world, or 'True Love'. It's completely fiction, absolute fiction, Anna."

"One day, Christina, you are going to get a fresh new perspective on life and men, a new horizon, and you will eat your words because you will know that everything you just said isn't true at all." Anna made it to the ground, "There's someone for everyone, Tia, remember that. Ours are out there somewhere; we just haven't met them yet."

I gave her a small smile, "Whatever you say Anna…" I changed the subject, "Ready for an adventure?"

"I always am." Anna nodded. We left the estate and explored the city. Washington D.C. was a marvel at night. Every family has rebels, even multi-millionaires. Like my grandfather, I was a little bit of one too.


	2. The Demolition Expert

**Chapter Two: The Demolition Expert**

-1911-

I took a deep breath and tried to think of what to say to Grandfather. "Okay, all I have to do is say that I want to go to Iceland. That shouldn't be a problem. It would be a good experience for me. The journey would make an amazing novel. It would be a good chance to experience things for myself... That sounds good. Yeah, that's sounds good." I took a deep breath, I was gonna do it. "Here goes nothing…" I said to myself as I entered the library, "Grandfather, I would like to speak with you about Thatch's expedition to Atlantis."

"Oh really?" He replied happily, "I was about to call you in here about that myself."

"You were?" I asked confused.

He nodded, "Yes, there is something I need you to do for me."

"What would you like me to do?" I asked him.

"I need you to retrieve someone for me." He stated.

"Retrieve someone?" I repeated confused.

He nodded, "I need you to retrieve Vincenzo Santorini. He is waiting for you to come. I told him you'd be arriving at the end of the month."

"Um…Grandfather, he's doing time in a Turkish prison." I told him as I looked at the paperwork.

"That's right." He replied as if it were nothing, "He's our demolition expert. We need him on the trip. Bail's been paid. They're keeping him there until you arrive."

"I'll try." I replied. He gave me my tickets and I left to go pack for the trip.

The first time I get the chance to go abroad alone, it's to bust our demolition expert, who was – part of me wondered what even got him there in the first place – in prison. It was a little odd, but at least I wasn't surrounded by guards for once.

It was like this job, and the trip to Atlantis itself, was handed to me on a silver platter. I read something about silver platters. What was it? Never lust for – that definitely wasn't it – never fuss over – that didn't sound quite right either – never adjust to – no, that wasn't it either. The phrase was never 'something' a silver platter. Maybe when I meet Mr. Santorini, I'll remember what that something was.

It took a week to travel from Washington D.C. to Antalya, Turkey. When I arrived, I regretted not taking someone with me. While the trek across the Atlantic was pleasant, as was the journey across the Mediterranean Sea, but walking around Antalya alone was uncomfortable. It was safe to say the faster I can get this done and over with the better.

**Vinny's POV**

I stared at the stone tiled ceiling, recounting the stone tiles for the thousandth time. There was nothing left for me to do. I've tried to think of ways to break out, but it was pointless. I'd need a miracle to get out of here.

"Santorini, you've made bail." Rahmi, the only guard who spoke English, announced as he opened the door. He led me out to the front where some lady was trying and failing to talk with the guard in front. Rahmi cleared his throat, "Miss Whitmore."

The Whitmore lady turned to face us and a smile came upon her face and she thanked Rahmi in Turkish before turning her attention to me. "Ciao Santorini, come stai?"

_(Hello Mr. Santorini, how are you?)_

Her Italian was much better than her Turkish was, it was clear that she had been fluent in the language or at least decent enough to carry a conversation.

"Sono stato meglio." I responded in kind.

_(I've been better.)_

"Come ti piacerebbe un lavoro dove le tue abilità potranno essere messe in uso?"

_(How would you like a job where your skills can be put to use?)_

I looked at her intrigued, "Vai avanti."

_(Go on.)_

"Ti dirò di più sulla strada." She responded, "Abbiamo una barca da catturare."

_(I'll tell you more on the way. Right now we have a boat to catch.)_

As we walked out of the prison, she asked, "Parli inglese?"

I nodded and answered in English, "I do."

She let out a sigh of relief, "Oh good, I don't know how long I could keep that up. It's been a couple of years since I've been able speak Italian with anyone else." She explained as we made our way through the town, not that I really needed an explanation. I didn't care which language we spoke in. "Right, so introductions. You're Vincenzo Santorini, I have a pretty extensive file on you. You're absolutely brilliant, although your criminal record does leave a bit to be desired. Given your skillset though, it's not really surprising."

"I know who I am." I stopped her from her tangent, "Who are you?"

"Sorry, Christina Whitmore." She introduced herself, "My grandfather is Preston B. Whitmore."

"The millionaire?" I clarified.

She nodded.

"Why would a millionaire-" I started to ask, but she interrupted.

"Because we need you to help retrieve something from Iceland." She quickly answered and then changed the subject, "Do you need anything before we get on the ship? We have an hour."

"No." I responded.

We made our way to the docks silently. She was unsure of what to say and I had no interest in furthering the conversation. She seemed like the type who could talk for hours, which wasn't something I was ready to listen to.


	3. A Fair Deal

**Chapter Three: A Fair Deal**

**Tia's POV**

The journey back to Washington D.C was quiet. I gave up on talking to Mr. Santorini, he wasn't listening every time I tried. Grandfather could explain the expedition better than I could, so I didn't worry about that. However, the more time I was around Mr. Santorini, the less interested I was in going on the expedition to Iceland. Anything would have been better than being stuck on a ship with him again. When we arrived back, I brought him straight to Grandfather and went to call upon Anna.

When I reached her door, it opened. A man with blond hair walked out, muttering under his breath. I moved closer to the railing, so I wouldn't be trampled over. He was too consumed by his thoughts to notice anything or anyone around him. I knocked on the door after he left, Nigel Carrister, the butler, answered the door.

"Miss Annabeth will not be having visitors today, Miss Whitmore." Nigel told me, "I kindly suggest that you visit another time."

"Tia?" I heard Anna call from inside the house. A few moments later, she was right beside Nigel, "Come in, Tia. Don't worry about Nigel, he's taking Daddy's orders a little too seriously." She told me as she pulled me inside. "You don't count as a visitor, you're practically family. Tell me about your trip."

"How did you know?" I asked her as we headed into the sitting room.

"I tried to call on you while you were gone." She responded, "Your Grandfather told me that you went to Turkey. What business would you have there?"

"I didn't." I told her, "My Grandfather wanted me to find an associate of his."

"You went to Turkey to find some old man, so he can meet with your Grandfather?" Anna replied confused.

"He wasn't that old." I told her, "He was six years older than we are. My grandfather needed him for an expedition that he's funding."

"Was he attractive?"

"He's not the most unattractive man I've ever met." I answered in a roundabout way.

"I'll take that as a no."

"He was neither." I responded, "His personality was more off putting." I added before changing the subject, "Who was the blonde gentleman?"

"Mr. Collis." She sighed, "Daddy's determined to make him my suitor. I want nothing to do with him and he doesn't seem to want anything to do with me."

"Other than the obvious reasons." I said, but then I noticed the sad look on her face. She wanted to be loved and be able to find someone who loved her for the person she was regardless of her money. I could care less if I ended up alone, but that was not a life Anna desired. I placed my hands on hers, "Anna, you're going to find someone wonderful. He is out there somewhere."

"You really believe that?"

"For you, I do." I told her.

**Preston B. Whitmore's POV**

I observed the gentleman before me. Vincenzo Santorini was exactly as the young doctor described him to be, stone faced and a man of few words. When he did speak, he was selective about his words. He was the perfect person to dissuade Christina from going to Iceland. I had every faith in her and she proved that she was more than capable of handling herself by bringing Mr. Santorini here from prison, but I didn't think she was ready for this particular expedition. With time, she would be ready for the journey to Atlantis, if they found the journal. If they didn't, I would find somewhere else for her to travel to under the watchful eye of a traveling companion.

"I have a proposition for you, Mr. Santorini." I told him, "Please sit down."

He silently took a seat at the table across from me and I started to explain the details of the Iceland expedition and how he would be involved. I didn't go into the possibility of an expedition to Atlantis, he wouldn't need that information unless Thaddeus' team found the journal. By our conversation though, I knew I had found the right person to look after Christina.

As Mr. Santorini and I were ending our conversation, there was a knock at the door. I sighed, "Come in, Miss Sinclair." I called to my personal assistant. I knew it hadn't been Christina, she wouldn't have bothered to knock before entering the room. I turned my attention back to Mr. Santorini, "Stay if you wish, Mr. Santorini. There's more than enough rooms for you to stay in until you leave."

"Thank you." Mr. Santorini nodded and stood as Miss Sinclair walked in Gaetan Moliere, our mineralogist and excavations expert. He left and Mr. Moliere quickly sat down in his seat. Miss Sinclair introduced Mr. Moliere and left the two of us to talk.

**Vinny's POV**

I spent over an hour walking around the mansion lost. It was even grander than it looked from the outside. It was like a museum.

"Are you lost?"

I turned around to see Christina Whitmore, in a more relaxed attire than I had seen her in previously. She was wearing a loose cream blouse and flowing red skirt, which was more her fitting her personality than the yellow dress than she had been wearing when I had first met her. Yellow was not her color, but she did look nice in what she was wearing now. She had her brown hair down rather than in the tight bun she had been sporting the entire trip. In her hands was a book, it was closed and her right pointer finger was holding the spot where she had been reading.

"I am." I admitted.

"Where were you trying to go?" She asked politely, "Maybe I could point you in the right direction."

"The guest rooms."

"Well, we have a lot of those." She responded, "Although from what I've read, I think I might have the perfect room for you. I'll show you where it is."

As she led me to the room, I started to feel guilty about the way I had treated her on the voyage here. I could have been kinder to her.

"What are you reading?" I asked her trying to start up a conversation.

She looked down at the book embarrassed, "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. It's one of my favorites"

"I've never read it." I responded, "What is it about?"

"Mortality, the dynamic and duality of good and evil in man, and how problematic it can be to suppress or separate half of yourself-" She started to explain, but then stopped herself, "That's not the best way of explaining it. The story is about an experiment that went horribly wrong. You're a chemist, right?"

"I have a degree in advanced chemistry, but I wouldn't say I'm exactly chemist." I responded, the response wasn't exactly right. I wasn't solely a chemist. I was an engineer, technician, and florist. I didn't define myself solely as a chemist.

"But you are a man of science." She responded, almost seeming to understand my answer.

I nodded, "Yeah."

"Imagine that you concocted this experiment that was supposed to help mankind by suppressing the worst of ourselves, but no one in the academic or scientific community would take it on. So instead of letting it go, you decide to conduct the experiment on yourself. It does what it's supposed to do, it splits the best and worst parts of yourself. However, instead of fully suppressing it, when you drink the mixture it instead turns you into the worst part of yourself and you have no control over that half of you. That side of you is a completely different person with their own name and they didn't leave when the effects wore off."

"That sounds like a nightmare."

"And that was Dr. Jekyll's reality." She replied, "It's an absolutely wonderful book. You're welcome to borrow it while you're staying here, if you'd like. You're welcome to any of the books in the library." She stopped in front of a door, "I think you'll like this room." She opened the door, "It has the best view of the garden." She smiled softly, "Have a good night, Mr. Santorini." She left before I could say a word, not that I knew what to say to her. I wasn't expecting the gesture. She could have given me any room in the mansion, it was kind of her to give me one near the garden.

**Tia's POV**

After Grandfather finished his meeting with Mr. Moliere, I met him in his study.

"Is there anyone else you have to meet with?" I asked curiously.

"Only a few others." He answered, "I almost have the entire team together."

"That's good."

"I know you want to go to Iceland with Thatch-" He started to say, but I interrupted him.

"I don't think this expedition is the right one for me." I admitted, "I don't see how I would be of any help. I don't have a specific skill set that would set me apart from the rest of the team."

"How would you feel if were given a job instead?" Grandfather asked.

"I don't understand." I responded.

"The Smithsonian has been baiting me for years to be a benefactor." Grandfather told me, "I am not going to be their benefactor or donate any of the artifacts I've collected over the years, but they might be satisfied with a Whitmore working with the Institute."

"Wouldn't there be some stipulation given the fact I'm a woman?"

"I'll take care of the Institute." He assured, "If you work with the Smithsonian, you will gain the skillset you will need for the next expedition I choose to fund."

"What type of skill would I learn from working with Smithsonian?" I asked, "I can't imagine them putting me anywhere useful."

"If I am able to procure a job with the Smithsonian that will teach you skills needed for the next expedition, will you agree to work there?"

"Will I go on the next expedition with no guards or anyone looking after me?" I responded.

"The only ones accompanying you would be the people needed for the excavation team." He promised.

"Then you have a deal." I agreed, "I'll take whatever job I can get."

"Good to hear."


	4. Unplanned Recommendations

**Chapter Four: Unplanned Recommendations **

After a couple of weeks, with a lot of persuasion, Grandfather was able to get the board of directors to agree to place me in the archives under the watchful eye of Dr. Reinhart, whom I've met through galas and charity events. I should have probably been more selective about my words when I agreed to doing any job with the institute. I sighed as I walked into the library to find a book to get my mind off of the predicament I was caught in and found Mr. Santorini sitting on the couch with a book in his hands. As I got a closer look, I saw that it was The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Hyde. I smiled seeing that he took my recommendation.

"Hello Miss Whitmore." He greeted formally when he noticed me.

"Please call me, Tia, Mr. Santorini." I told him, "You can call me Christina if that makes you more comfortable, but there's no need for formalities, especially not in here." I added, and then asked him, "Do you like the book?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I do."

"I could recommend others if you want." I offered, "You can even borrow a few, if you like, to take to Iceland. It's a long trip, you might get bored on the ship."

"I don't want to trouble you."

"You're not." I responded, sitting down, "I enjoy doing this type of stuff and these books deserve to have more people enjoy them than just me. It also gets my mind off of things."

"Like what?"

"I'm about to start working with the Smithsonian and it's this wonderful job with in the Archives." I started.

"What's the problem?" He asked getting to point.

"The man I'm going to be working under has been after the Whitmore fortune for years."

"And he thinks you're way to get it?" He responded, laughing.

"Why is that so funny?" I retorted, standing, "Am I really that repulsive to you?"

"That's not why it's funny." He responded deadpanned, "Will you sit down?"

"No, tell me why." I demanded.

"You're not repulsive." He stated, "It's funny that he's dumb enough to believe that you're his ticket to being a millionaire."

"I'm an heiress and socialite."

"You may be rich, but you're not a social anything." Mr. Santorini corrected, "You're not a social woman. I've seen your reaction when you're told you have to attend a party and the anger and exhaustion when you come back from one. You don't like interacting with other rich people or people who only talk to you because you have money, you don't have the patience for it."

"I have patience for a lot of things." I crossed my arms.

"Things, not people." He said. I couldn't ask how he knew that, there was no point. He's been here for the past three weeks and he's a quiet man, who kept to himself, but could pick up on and observe most of the things that went on in the house. It wasn't a stretch for him to have observed my habits. "The only people you like are your Grandfather, that blonde friend of yours, and me when it suits you."

"I sound like a snob." I responded, slightly dejected. Snobbish was the last thing I wanted to be known for being.

"You're selective about the company you keep."

It was almost discombobulating speaking to Mr. Santorini. The way he spoke when we were in a conversation was so different than his personality, how he presented himself when we first met, and his appearance. It was odd hearing his responses because I could tell he was being selective and careful about what he said. I wasn't used to people, well people who didn't work in the house, to be selective about what they said. I could tell that if he was around people that he felt comfortable with, he would speak differently.

"Well, the more selective you are, the less you're close to." I responded, not knowing what else to say. After a few moments of awkward silence, I spoke up again, "Are you interested in the books?"

"Yeah."

"Great!" I exclaimed, "I have short stories, novellas, plays, novels...There are so many books in here, but you are going to be a bit more particular in what you'll read. You're not going to read Wharton or Austen and enjoy it. You might like Hawthorne's Rappaccini's Daughter."

"Never heard of it."

"It's a short story set in Italy about this boy who falls in love with the daughter of a scientist." I started, he didn't look too enthralled, "The girl is confined to the gardens, which are filled with poisonous plants that are cultivated by her father. The boy meets with the girl several times and finds that the girl is also poisonous and that by spending time with her in the garden, he has become poisonous too. He tries to bring her a cure, but it ends up killing her." I summarized the rest of the story, "It's a beautiful story. It doesn't get as much attention as it deserves."

"Maybe because it doesn't end happily."

"Are you looking for a happy ending?"

"Not necessarily."

"Oh good cause I think only one of the books I've been thinking about recommending so far has a happy ending."

"Why?"

"No idea." I shrugged, "Only one has come to mind so far. Although depending on how you decide to look at another one of them, it's a comedy where characters happen to die." I sat back down next to Mr. Santorini.

**Vinny's POV**

Not being able to help myself, I asked about the story she had been referring to, which happened to be Oedipus Rex. I may not have read the play, but it was one I've heard of and it was supposed to be a tragedy. The way she was explaining the plot though was entertaining, it wasn't hard to tell that she enjoyed the play and not for the reasons that someone was supposed to. She took pure joy out of the misfortune that fell upon the characters, that much was evident in her voice and the way she spoke. I don't think I've been this entertained by listening to anyone describe anything. From everything I knew about Oedipus Rex, I couldn't help with agree with her point that the characters did everything to themselves and there was nothing to pity them for. She went on to describe Hamlet, Frankenstein, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Around the World in 80 Days.

"What's your favorite?" I asked her, "Other than this one." I added, holding up the book in my hands.

"That's hard." She responded, "There are so many books in here, I probably have a favorite of every genre. For me to pick one would be like asking you to pick your favorite bomb that you've made."

"I don't have one."

"I have a favorite fairytale, myth, play, but not a book."

"Tell me about them."

She smiled and started to describe them. All three of them were similar, not the same, but similar. They had similar themes and motifs. All three were romances, but none of them were about pining or yearning for the other person or were they overly complex. The plots were layered, but simple to understand, except for the Shakespeare play. I don't think Shakespeare was ever supposed to be easy to understand.

The more she described the story, the better look I got at who she was and what she valued. It started to make more sense why she would be frustrated by the idea of working with whoever she was supposed to be working with at the museum. Through the conversation, I was starting to figure her out and the more I did, the more I liked her.

There was one thing about her I hadn't been able to understand no matter how many conversations we've had in the past three weeks: the faraway look in her cerulean eyes. It wasn't unhappy, even though you could see the sadness in her eyes, the look was mostly distant. Like she wasn't living in the fully present. There could be several reasons for the look and why she was the way she was, as well as many questions I could ask, but I'd be over stepping my bounds if I did.

I wondered if I should tell her that I won't be back when she returned from the museum tomorrow. I didn't know if Mr. Whitmore mentioned that the ship leaves tomorrow for Iceland. Although, I wasn't too sure if she would care if he did.

It wasn't until quarter to ten in the evening that she realized the time, embarrassment washed over her face, "I apologize, Mr. Santorini, for keeping you up so late. I hadn't noticed the time."

"Don't worry about it." I responded, "I liked hearing the stories."

Her expression brightened, "Really?"

"Yeah."

"I have to turn in for the night, but it was nice talking with you." She stood and then paused for a moment, "Will you be returning, Mr. Santorini? After you come back from Iceland, I mean."

"I don't know." I responded honestly, "Maybe."

"I hope you do." She told me, "I wouldn't mind seeing you again. Have a good night, Mr. Santorini."

I wished her a good night and watched her leave the room before looking down at the book in my hands, wishing I had said more to her than good night. I set the book down and looked for the three stories she mentioned in the library: Much Ado About Nothing, Beauty and the Beast, and a book on Greek mythology, so I could figure out who Persephone was. If I was able to come back, I would read the other books she had recommended.

**Tia's POV**

When I arrived at the Smithsonian the next morning, I met with Mr. Harcourt, who was less than pleased to have me there. If I was male, he'd be ecstatic. He had expressed as much by the off-hand comment: "We don't have hardly anything for a woman, this isn't the place for one. Their place is with their children and in the home. We'll put you in the Archives for now under Dr. Reinhart and see how you do, Miss Whitmore."

I wasn't quite sure how to take the comment, so I ignored it. What was I supposed to say? Most women my age and of my class that I knew were married, and if they were most certainly courting. They didn't work, they didn't have to. There isn't necessarily a need for me to work either, however it was a desire. It is the 20th Century, women should have the option to do what they choose with their life. We are not objects and shouldn't be treated as such. This, however was not the place or time to argue women's rights.

Dr. Reinhart was no better than Dr. Harcourt, merely different. Where Dr. Harcourt was sexist and confidently expressed his opinions on women, Dr. Reinhart made me uncomfortable to be in the same room as him. I can handle comments and glances, those were one thing, but the way he leered as me as I worked and filed or the way he took every chance to accidentally touch me. Being around him made me think of Mr. Santorini and wish I were around him. I may have not have enjoyed his company at first, but neither did he enjoy mine. I can definitely guarantee, however, he would not treat me so disrespectfully.

After around noon, I took my break for lunch. Instead of getting something to eat however, I wandered around the Smithsonian to take in where I would be working for the foreseeable future.

"Are you lost?" I heard someone ask. I turned in the direction of the voice to find a tall man around my age with brown hair and glasses. There was a sadness in his eyes and a familiarity about him that I couldn't shake off, it was almost as if I knew him. "I could help you get back, if you want." He stuttered out.

I smiled, "I'm okay, I just start working here and wanted to get a feel for the place."

"You work here?"

I nodded, "Started today in Archives with Dr. Reinhart."

The man made an expression of disdain at the mention of Dr. Reinhart, which sparked an interest in me, so I continued, "What's your name?"

"Milo." He introduced himself, "Milo Thatch."

Realization washed over me, no wonder he was familiar. I suppressed the urge to say anything, I doubt he'd remember me. We were just children after all.

"I'm Christina, but my friends call me Tia." I introduced myself, intentionally leaving out my last name.

"Have you eaten yet, Tia?" He asked, to which I shook my head, and he continued, "I'm about to go get lunch, would you like to join me? Maybe we could get to know each other." He offered his arm, which I accepted.

"I would like nothing better."

**Vinny's POV**

As I headed out of the room I had been staying in to leave, I was stopped by Mr. Whitmore, "I was hoping to catch you before you left, Mr. Santorini. God, that's a mouthful, you got a nickname?"

"Vinny." I told him.

"Vinny, I'd like to speak with you before we leave." He asked, "Don't worry the ship won't leave without you."

I agreed, knowing there wasn't a way I could refuse. It was more of that he was telling me what was going to happen instead of asking. He led me to his study and we sat down at the table.

"I have a proposition for you, Vinny." He told me, "You seem to enjoy the company of my granddaughter and she doesn't seem to mind yours. If the team finds the journal, she will want to go on the next expedition and I would be foolish to stop her. I can hire someone to look after her, however. That's where you would come in. You would be paid on top of your salary to make sure she comes back safely and in one piece."

I debated back and forth for a few moments whether to take him up on his offer or not. I couldn't find much of a reason not to, it wasn't like she would get hurt, so I agreed to his offer. If it was a chance to make more money, I didn't see the harm.

"Make sure to return those books when you come back from Iceland, will you?" Mr. Whitmore said as I left, "Tia has always enjoyed them."

I wasn't going to question how he knew, I didn't have the time. I agreed to return the books I had borrowed and left.


	5. An Unwelcomed Observation

**Chapter Five: An Unwelcomed Observation**

-1914-

**Tia's POV**

"Milo, don't forget about the gala this evening." I reminded him as we headed out of the Smithsonian.

"I won't." He promised.

"Great." I smiled, "I'll pick you up later and then tomorrow we'll start going over your proposal to the board."

As he walked me to my car, he replied, "You know I'm happy to help you any time, Tia, but you're going need to find a way to deal with Dr. Reinhart on your own. I can't always be your shield."

"But you make such a good shield." I teased, and then responded seriously, "I'll work on a better approach to Reinhart. I'll see you later."

"See you." He opened the car door for me, beating my driver, Branson, to it. I stepped into the car and sat down. Branson shut to door, got into the car, and we drove off.

It was a short silent drive back home. Branson had never been the talkative sort, or at least not with me. He more or less kept to himself, which I didn't mind. I used the time during the drive to stare out the window at the city I've explored numerous times over the years. There wasn't a part of the city I hadn't been to yet. There was nothing new or unfamiliar, everything looked and felt the same.

When we got home, I headed inside to go prepare for the gala, however the sight of Mr. Vincenzo Santorini standing in the foyer stopped me in my tracks. He had visited sporadically over the past year and half since he and the team had returned from Iceland. The only one who had visited as much as he did was Mr. Moliere.

"Mr. Santorini, it's nice to see you." I greeted him kindly, "Are you here to see my Grandfather?"

"No, I just wanted to return these." He responded, holding up the books.

"I can take those for you." I offered. He handed me the books, which were The Picture of Dorian Gray and Frankenstein. "Did you enjoy them?"

"I did." He affirmed.

"You're more than welcome borrow others, if you'd like."

He shook his head, "Not this time, Miss Whitmore."

"How many times must I ask you to call me Tia?"

"At least once more, Miss Whitmore." He responded.

"Call me Tia." I told him, it wasn't a question, nor was it a command either, "Miss Whitmore is too formal. I can tell that you're not a man who typically uses formalities and I wish you wouldn't use them with me."

"I'll work on it, Tia." He responded.

"That's all I ask." I smiled, "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"That was it."

"Will you be back?" I asked him curiously.

"I don't know." He answered, "Probably not for a while."

"Oh." I looked down, "Have a good night then." I headed upstairs to go prepare for the gala.

**Milo's POV**

When Tia arrived, she had a different look about her than when we parted. She looked beautiful as always, but there was a melancholy expression about her. It was an expression I hadn't seen often, but when it was there it was noticeable. It had been in the past year and a half that this started and it was often caused by one of two things: a disagreement with Miss Annabeth Corey over her current suitor, whom Tia was not fond of, or she saw her Italian friend again. When it doubt, I always leaned towards assuming it was the latter.

"Is everything alright?" I asked her, starting the conversation as I usually did when she was like this.

She nodded and then answered distantly, "Just thinking."

"How is your Italian friend?"

"He's good." She responded, "How did you know I saw Mr. Santorini?"

"It was just a guess." I rubbed the back of my neck, "You have a similar expression that you had the last time you saw him. Is he going to visit again?"

"I don't know." She answered as I grabbed my coat, "I hope so."

"Have you ever thought of just telling him how you feel?" I asked her as I put on my coat, "It might help if he knew." I opened the door and we both walked out. There was no point in having this conversation at home; if we did, we'd completely miss the gala. It was easier just for the two of us to talk as we walked to Smithsonian.

"What am I supposed to say?" She asked as I locked the door.

"Pretend I'm Mr. Santorini." I told her, "What would you say to me?"

"Milo-" She started to object, but I stopped her. We weren't going to do this tonight. I don't know what affect this man has on her, but I wanted to see the woman I spent my free time with again. This melancholy person wasn't her.

"No, I'm Mr. Santorini-" I told her again, "Geez, does this guy have a first name?"

"It's Vincenzo."

"Vincenzo Santorini…" I repeated, "He have a nickname?"

"No idea, I've always called him Mr. Santorini." She answered, "We've always kept it pretty formal when it comes to our names."

"You know what, it doesn't matter." I said as I adjusted my glasses, "I'm him, what do you say?"

"Milo, this is ridiculous."

"No, the way you're acting about this is ridiculous." I corrected, "You can talk circles around anyone, but then there's this man and you can't tell him how you feel, it doesn't make any sense. It should be the easiest thing in the world for you say something about it. You don't have any problems expressing your opinions to anyone else, but you do with him and I don't get it."

"What am I supposed to say?" She asked again, but this time she continued as if I were him, "That I miss you every time you leave and I don't know why? That I enjoy your company? That I have so many questions about your job and everything you've done? That I admire you and I don't think I can really fight these feelings I have anymore because they're starting to eat at away at me. I don't know what to do or think anymore because when I first met you, you were the last person I wanted to be around."

"That's a good way to go about it." I told her, "And if he has a problem with everything you just said, then he's the one with the problem."

She looked at me unconvinced, so I continued, "We're about to go into a party where every unmarried man is going to fall all over you, you know why?"

"My family is wealthy." She stated.

"Well that and you're beautiful, and sweet, and brilliant." I told her, "Any man would be lucky to have you."

**Vinny's POV**

"So how'd it go?" Sweet asked when I got back to the hotel room we shared. Every member of the excavation crew was being lodged at the Willard Intercontinental by Mr. Whitmore, so we had somewhere to stay until we sailed out on Friday. I had the choice between rooming with Dr. Sweet or with Mole. After sharing a room with Mole for almost a year, I decided, for the sake of my sanity, to room with Sweet.

"How'd what go?" I asked deadpanned.

He raised an eyebrow, and then chided, "Don't give me that, Vinny."

"I just returned a couple of books." I replied, denying the idea of any other reason to visit the Whitmore mansion.

"You went to see Christina Whitmore." Sweet corrected, "I've known you a long time, you had no interest in reading until the expedition to Iceland, which coincidentally happened after you met her. I didn't get it until I saw her and way you interacted with her, then I understood why you started reading."

"I needed something to do in my free time." I dismissed his assumption.

"If you were bored, you would have done what you always do: make another bomb" He pointed out, "You can't use the excuse of boredom, I know you too well. This is about her."

I rolled my eyes as I leaned back on my bed, now wishing I had decided to share a room with Mole.

"And if you were really going to borrow books from their library, you would have returned with another two books." Sweet added, "Which you didn't."

"Tia offered, I didn't think it was a good idea." I responded automatically.

Sweet smirked, "It's Tia now, is it?"

"She's been askin' me to call her that for almost three years." I responded, not thinking much of it, "She didn't want to be addressed formally."

"Not by you." Sweet said, "And what does she call you?"

"Mr. Santorini." I answered.

"She wants you to call her Tia and you've never asked her to call you Vinny?" Sweet retorted, "Have you lost your mind?"

"I don't see why it matters what she calls me."

"It doesn't." He agreed, "If you only want a friendship with her."

"What more would I want?"

"Vinny, I saw the way you looked at her when we went to visit Mr. Whitmore after we came back from Iceland." Sweet responded, "Mole, Manuel, and I all saw it. I know you want more than a friendship with her and if you give her the chance, she might want that too."

"I don't want anything from her." I told him quickly.

"Well, that'll make things easier when she comes with us to Atlantis." Sweet pointed out. My head shot up, remembering the deal I had made with Mr. Whitmore three years ago. Christina Whitmore accompanying us to Atlantis was many things, but easy was not one of them. I don't think she knew how to make anything easy. "Got her medical records this morning, Rourke delivered them to me himself. Apparently, knew her as a child, I'd keep an eye on her when it comes to him, Vinny. You know how he is about that crystal, he had the same look about him when he was talking about her and her family."

"She doesn't have family other than Whitmore." I responded, "And I don't know what he'd want with her other than her money, she doesn't have anything."

"I know him, there's something that she has that he wants that's got nothing to do with Whitmore."

"I don't know." I shrugged, "I don't know her that well."

The thought of Rourke wanting something from Tia only made my job harder. He wouldn't want her, that would have been too simplistic for a man like him, he wanted something from her. The odds that she had anything not given to her by Mr. Whitmore were slim to none. She didn't tell me much about how she lost her family, but she did mention that she came to live with Whitmore with nothing. Whatever Rourke was after, it would have to have been small or something she hadn't thought much of, not like she hated it or anything, but something that she had so often that it would be second nature for her to have it with her.

**Tia's POV**

I fiddled with my locket unnerved as I waited for Milo to comeback, I hated to be alone during these things. Fussing with my locket was a small way of dealing with the tension and people, it was nervous tic. It was less destructive and noticeable than when I went to the ballet, an opera, or a play and would somehow end up with a ripped and destroyed programme.

"Good Evening, Christina." I heard Dr. Reinhart from behind as he circled around to face me, "I see you're alone tonight. I would have been more than happy to come with you if I had known. You know I'd love to spend more time with you."

"Hello Dr. Reinhart." I responded, letting go of my locket and deciding to ignore his over-familiar and forward greeting. There was no point in correcting or even addressing it. I haven't gotten through to him in three years, what was the point of even trying now? There wasn't one. "I came with Milo Thatch actually."

"Oh yes, the boy from the boiler room." He remarked, "How philanthropic of you."

I forced a smile to hide the fact that I wanted to cringe at how he used the word.

"You know, I wouldn't mind if you wanted to be philanthropic with me too." He continued. I started to fidget with my locket again, trying to think of anything to say. Somehow he took my nervous twitch as a hint for him to go on with his advances as he took my left hand, which by my side, and held it in his, brushing it with his thumb. "Maybe I could be a little philanthropic with you."

I slid my hand out of his, and then responded, "You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means."

"Of course I know what it means!" He rebuffed. I looked at him stunned, I hadn't expected him to escalate that quickly. I knew he might get annoyed when I commented on the word, but I wasn't expecting him to get angry. I didn't have to look around to see that all of the people around us were staring, I could feel their eyes on the two of us. I scanned the room quickly to see if Milo was nearby, but he was gone. I quickly left Reinhart to go find Milo, who was deep in a conversation with one of the sons of one of the members of the board when I found him.

"Do you mind if I pull Mr. Thatch away for a moment?" I asked the gentleman, "I promise it will be brief."

"Of course, Miss Whitmore." He nodded politely.

I pulled Milo off to the side so we could speak in private and he started to apologize for leaving me on my own, which hadn't been his intention, but had got caught up in the conversation he was having.

"Milo, it's alright." I stopped him, "I just wanted to tell you that I'm going home."

"What?" He asked surprised, "Why?"

"It's just time for me to go."

"What are you going to turn into a pumpkin if you don't get home before midnight?" He asked, "What's going on?"

"I just want to go home." I responded.

"Alright, I'll get our coats and we'll go." He started to head in the direction of the coat check, but I grabbed his hand.

"You're having a good time." I said, "Don't stop because I'm not, I can get home on my own."

"That's dangerous."

"I'll be fine." I promised, "I'll even call you in the morning."

"Tia, I can-" Milo started again.

I smiled softly and placed my hand on his, "Have fun. I'll call you tomorrow."

"Alright." He agreed reluctantly.

I kissed his cheek, "Thank you for bringing me, I'll talk to you later."

I went to go grab my coat and then left the gala.

**Vinny's POV**

Sweet and I walked around the city trying to decide on what to eat, neither of us wanted to eat in the restaurant at the hotel again. I had nothing against the restaurant, other than they had no idea how to make a decent marinara sauce and their Bolognese was terrible. They also didn't know the difference between linguine and fettuccine. Although, if I wanted good Italian food, I'd go back home.

"Miss Whitmore!" I heard Sweet call to the lady just ahead of us. I looked up just as she turned around, I then looked at Sweet, who confidently stood as she approached the two of us with a smile. "We were just talking about you."

"Good things, I hope." She responded.

"Of course." Sweet smiled widely, "We just talking about how much we were looking forward to you accompanying us on our next expedition."

Tia's face reddened as she looked down, "Oh, well, there are a few more things to finalize, but I should be able to come."

"Would you like to join us for dinner?" I asked, finally managing to speak up.

She looked up at me happily, "I would enjoy that, Mr. Santorini. I know a wonderful place up the street, if you're interested."

We both agreed to her offer and she led us down the street.

**Tia's POV**

The restaurant I took them to was a small pub that always seemed to get lost by the hustle and bustle of the city. The inside was hideous and seemingly uncleanly, but the food was fantastic. The food consisted of mostly Irish cuisine. I had spent enough time here that they knew my order and which table I wanted.

"Tia!" Liam greeted with a wide smile. He was almost twenty but looked about sixteen with his big brown eyes, baby face, and mass of curly dark brown hair. His family had owned the restaurant, his mother was Irish and his father was English. They had immigrated about ten years ago, Liam's always been the friendliest of the bunch. "I'll make sure they prepare your table. You didn't bring your friend with the glasses tonight?"

I shook my head, "No, he's working tonight."

"If he's working, shouldn't you be?" Liam teased.

"Should I?" I asked him in return with a smile.

His face flushed and a goofy, reminiscing grin appeared on his face, "You always say that!"

"Doesn't make any less true." I replied.

"But you haven't said anything!"

"I haven't?" I smiled as Liam looked at me bewildered, "I believe I've said quite a bit."

"But you never answered the question."

"I didn't?" I kept teasing as poor Liam started to blush. He always seemed to embarrass easy in crowds, even when there was nothing for him to be embarrassed about. His older brother, Ayden, saw his expression from the bar and piped up.

"What Miss Whitmore means to say dear brother is that while she should be work with Mr. Thatch, she has yet again alluded her duties some way or another to be here tonight." Ayden told him, "Although it is a bit surprising you do not have Miss Corey with you tonight, Miss Whitmore."

"She and I are currently in a disagreement about the man she's currently seeing." I responded without missing a beat, "Miss Corey believes him to be charming, I believe him to be an ass."

Ayden laughed a little at my remark, knowing whom I was referring to. Nothing kind could really be said about Anna's current suitor, her father had a way of picking the worst possible types of men for her to spend her time with. With the amount of money the Coreys had, Anna wasn't given much of a say and she didn't question her family. The only one she's ever been able to stand up to was me. Maybe it was because I was the only one who expected her to, maybe it was because I had just as many problems as she did and saw us both on equal footing, maybe it was both.

After a few minutes, Liam led us to my usual table by the window. We sat down and he handed us our menus.

"Now, I know you usually order the shepherd's pie and the bread and butter pudding, but is there anything else you'd like?" Liam asked.

"You bringing back soda bread?" I asked him.

Liam nodded, "Always."

"Then as long as you bring that and the Guinness and some water, I'm good." I responded simply.

"Alright." Liam nodded again, and then looked to Mr. Santorini and Dr. Sweet, "I'll give you gentlemen a few minutes to look at the menu and I'll be right back with the soda bread and butter." He told them before taking his leave.

"What is Guinness?" Dr. Sweet asked me curiously.

"It's an Irish stout." I answered, "It's a dark beer. I've never had a taste for wine, I like champagnes and sweet white wines, but it really depends on the type."

"So what would you suggest as far as the menu goes?" Dr. Sweet asked.

"I always get the shepherd's pie, but I've had other dishes." I replied, "The corned beef and cabbage and its fantastic; as is the stew, the coddle, the cottage pie, and the boxty. I just hope you guys like potatoes, almost all of the dishes have them in some shape or form."

"Love them." Dr. Sweet smiled, "And I think Vinny here is just happy to have anything other than what the hotel's been serving us."

When Liam came back with my drinks, he took Dr. Sweet's and Mr. Santorini's orders and headed back to the kitchen.


	6. History Altering Conversation

**Chapter Six: History Altering Conversation**

After dinner Dr. Sweet excused himself to head back to the hotel, saying that he had an early morning tomorrow because he had to set up what he needed for his office and suggested that Mr. Santorini walk me home, which he agreed.

"You didn't have to walk with me back." I told Mr. Santorini as we walked down the street.

"I wanted to." He responded simply and then changed the subject, "So if you were supposed to be working tonight, why'd you leave early?"

"Oh, it was a gala." I told him, "There's only so much time I can stand being at one of those and the friend who I brought with me-"

"Mr. Thatch."

I nodded, "Mr. Thatch, he usually goes as my escort, which he was this time as well."

"But?"

"He got wrapped up in a conversation with someone else and I got stuck in a conversation with a man who's been after my money for years."

"Dr. Reinhart." Mr. Santorini nodded, "I remember you mentioning him."

"He got a little angry when I told him he was using a word inappropriately." I told him, "But that doesn't matter anymore, I won't be seeing him again until after we come back from Atlantis."

"You looking forward to going?"

"I am." I answered "I haven't been out of the country since I brought you back from Turkey, so I'm pretty excited about being able to get out of the city for a while."

"That's a long way to go just to get out of the city."

"It'll be worth it though, even if we don't find anything."

"You don't think we'll find anything?"

"I don't know what to think."

"Christina Whitmore not know what to think?" Mr. Santorini raised an eyebrow, "That doesn't sound quite right."

"It's just too-"

"Good to be true?"

"It sounds like something out a Verne novel." I told him, "I'll be debating whether it's real or not until I see it for myself. Aren't you questioning it?"

"I'm being paid." Mr. Santorini stated, "I don't care if it's real or not, it's just a job."

I nodded, "That's fair. I guess there'd be more investment for someone who didn't have money involved in the expedition."

"Then why go?"

"To prove a point." I shrugged, "To find the city would alter history, wouldn't it?"

"That might not mean what you think it does."

"How could you know what I think if I haven't said it?"

"Well?"

"I'll let you know after the expedition." I responded as we approached my grandfather's estate, "Would you like to come in, Mr. Santorini? Maybe we could have a drink and talk for a while."

"I'd like that." He agreed. After a moment, he added, "And Tia, it's Vinny."


	7. A Proposal Pre-Presentation

**Chapter Seven: A Proposal Pre-Presentation **

**Milo's POV**

At the end of the business day, Tia and I set up the boiler room as conference room with its own attendants to listen to my presentation for the board. Tia took her seat in the middle of it all as I went over to the podium and chalkboard.

"Good afternoon Gentlemen, at this time I would like to thank the board for hearing my proposal." I started, "Now we've all heard of the legend of Atlantis, a continent somewhere in the mid-Atlantic that was home to an advanced civilization that was home to technology far beyond our own that according to our friend, Plato here," I tapped the bust of the Greek philosopher, "That was suddenly struck by some cataclysmic event that sank it beneath the sea." I tapped the fishbowl next to me, before holding up my presentation cards with pictures to further prove my point, "Now some of you may ask, why Atlantis? It's just a myth, isn't it? Pure fantasy. Well, that is where you'd be wrong." I set down the first card. "Before the Egyptians built the pyramids," I set down the next card, "Atlantis had electricity, advanced medicine, even the power of flight." I stated, showing a presentation card for each scientific discovery, "Impossible, you say? Well, no. Not for them." I moved on to the next card, "Numerous ancient cultures all over the globe agreed that Atlantis possessed a power source of some kind – more powerful than steam, than… than coal. More powerful than our modern internal combustion engines." I went on, showing them a few other cards, "Gentlemen, I propose that we find Atlantis, find that power source, and bring it back to the surface." I moved on to talk about the book to further illustrate my point, "Now, this is a page from an illuminated text that describes a book called the Shepherd's Journal – said to have been a first-hand account of Atlantis and its exact whereabouts." I set down the card about the Journal and moved on to the chalkboard, "Now, based on a centuries-old translation of a Norse text," I picked up a piece of chalk, "historians have believed the Journal resides in Ireland." I tapped on the word Ireland with the chalk, before picking up the Viking shield, "But after comparing the text to the runes on this Viking shield, I found that one of the letters had been mistranslated." I then brushed the 'R' of Ireland with my sleeve and changed the letter, "So, by changing this letter and inserting the correct one, we find that the Shepherd's Journal, the key to Atlantis, lies not in Ireland, gentlemen, but in Iceland." I paused for a moment for effect, saying it allowed to remind myself to do that in the presentation as well, "Gentlemen, uh," I put down the shield, "I'll take your questions now."

Before I could move on, the telephone rang.

"Oh, would you gentlemen excuse me for a moment?" I asked, not dropping the act, and went over the chalk board to answer the phone, "Cartography and Linguistics, Milo Thatch speaking."

I was met with an angry retort about the boiler and the heating of the room. I listened to concern, went to go adjust the boiler, and then went back to phone. He was still unhappy about it happening in the first place, but he ended the call.

"Now by what you can see on th-" I looked down at my vest and then to the chalkboard, I had accidentally gotten part of my cartographical research on my vest, "this map that I've drawn myself," I forged on, placing myself in the middle of the chalkboard, completing the map, "I plotted a route that will take myself and a crew to the southern coast of Iceland to retrieve the Journal."

The cuckoo clock went off signaling it was time for me to go, "Ah, show time!" I then looked to Tia, "How'd I do?"

"Fantastic." She smiled.

"Well, this is it. I am finally getting out of the dungeon."

"You need it, you can do so much better than this." She responded.

"I know." I replied, picking up a picture of me and my grandfather. He had been the reason why I got into exploration, linguistics, and cartography in the first place. I then took out his exploration hat and placed it upon my head. Within moments, a note was delivered, "Dear Mr. Thatch, this is to inform you that your meeting today has been moved up from 4:30 P.M. to 3:30 P.M." I looked at the message in shock, "What?" I then received another message, "Dear Mr. Thatch, due to your absence, the board has voted to reject your proposal. Have a nice weekend. Mr. Harcourt's office." I threw the paper down, "They can't do this to me!" I grabbed my things and went to catch up with Mr. Harcourt and the board before they left.

**Tia's POV**

When I finally caught up with Milo, he was in the middle of the street soaking wet. I bent down next to him, "Oh, Milo." I helped him up, "Are you okay?" I wouldn't ask what happened, I didn't need to. I knew they weren't going along with his proposal and that Milo was going to quit. "C'mon, I give you a ride home."

Milo and I headed to my car to take him home where Helga was probably already waiting for him.


	8. Setting Sail for an Adventure

**Chapter Eight: Setting Sail for an Adventure**

"Thank you for the help, Branson." I told him as he helped me with my bag and find my room on the submarine, "I've got it from here." He dubiously handed me my bag, "I'll be alright"

"Be careful, Miss Whitmore." Branson warned, "Stay close to Mr. Thatch, the good doctor, and your Italian friend."

"I will." I assured him, "Don't worry."

He nodded and stepped out. I set down my bag, took out a book, and sat on the bed. It'd be another few hours before the crew meeting.

"And to think I thought I got a room to myself." I heard someone say after sometime. Looking back over at the door, I see a young woman in overalls leaning against the frame. "None of us have a room to ourselves, except for I think Rourke and Helga, but Helga has a room to herself cause I didn't want to share a room with her. You must be Audrey, I'm Tia."

"Why would you have a choice in who you roomed with?" Audrey responded.

"My grandfather's funding the expedition."

Audrey rolled her eyes, "So you basically got to come cause you're rich."

"I'm on this expedition because I have experience working with ruins of ancient civilizations and cultures and I'm also fluent in several languages. I spent the last few years doing research for the Smithsonian."

"So you're here for research purposes." Audrey replied as she set her bag on the bed above mine.

"For the most part." I nodded, "I've also been interested in this expedition for years."

"Why?"

"Haven't you ever been interested in doing something that's considered impossible?"

**Milo's POV**

"Carrots…" I groaned, "Why is it always carrots? I didn't even eat carrots."

The ship had only set sail a matter of minutes ago and I was already feeling seasick. This was a small inconvenience though, I was going to find Atlantis and I didn't care how sick I was going to get on the ship in the meantime. I could find the doctor if needed. Determined to not let this get the best of me, I picked up my bag and made my way through the ship to find where I was supposed to be.

_**'Attention. All hands to the launch bay. To whoever took the "L" from the Motor Pool sign, ha ha, we are all very amused.'**_ I heard over the ship's radio as I passed through the cargo area. Shortly after, a blonde woman hopped down from a truck in front of me.

"Excuse me?" I spoke up to get the woman's attention, "I need to, uh, report in?"

When she turned around, I noticed she was the woman from last night, Helga Sinclair.

"Yes, Mr. Thatch?" She asked.

I looked at her in shock, "Uh, it's you!"

"Blondie, I've got a bone to pick with you." An older man told her as a machine was lowering the vehicle he was on.

"Hold that thought." Ms. Sinclair told me, before turning her attention to the older man, "What is it this time, Cookie?"

"You done stuffed my wagon full to bustin' with non-essentials." The man, Cookie, retorted, pulling out a box, "Look at all this cinnamon, oregano, cilantro." He listed throwing out the seasonings, "What in the cockadoodle is cilantro?" He threw the box to another part of the wagon. He then picked up something else, I couldn't see it due to Ms. Sinclair being in the way, "And what is this?"

"That would be lettuce." She stated.

"Lettuce?!" Cookie cried out, "Lettuce?!"

"It's a vegetable, Cookie." She replied, taking the vegetable from him, "The men need the four basic food groups."

"I got your four basic food groups!" He exclaimed, "Beans, bacon, whiskey, and lard!"

She threw the vegetable back at him as the alarms sounded, "All right, cowboy. Pack it up and move it out." She left, leaving me behind still confused as to where to go. Not knowing what do to, I followed the soldiers in front of me.

_**'Attention. All hands to the launch bay. Final loading in progress.' **_

An elevator took us down to the submarine. As I started to head to it, someone else knocked into me from behind. I turned back to look at him, recognizing him from his picture. He was the demolition expert that had spent time in a Turkish prison.

"Hey, Junior." He said in his think Italian accent, "If you're lookin' for the pony rides, they're back there." He moved past me.

Noticing he dropped something, I tried to get his attention, "Excuse me. Excuse me?" I picked it up to hand to him, finally taking note of what it was, "You dropped your dy-dy-dy-dynamite." I let out a nervous laugh. The demolition expert stepped back to take the dynamite back. "What else have you, uh, got in there?" I asked as he took the explosive out of my hands.

"Oh, eh, gunpowder, nitroglycerin, notepads, fuses, wicks, glue, and paper clips." He listed off nonchalantly, "Big ones. You know, just, uh, office supplies."

"Milo!" Mr. Whitmore called over to me. He had a someone else with him, it had been the military man from the picture, "Where you been? I want you to meet Commander Rourke."

**Tia's POV**

_**'Attention, all personnel. Launch will commence.'**_

"Sounds like we should be heading up soon." Audrey stated "We've got that meeting to go to soon. You can tell me more about that monster machine on the way."

"Sure." I responded as we headed out of the room and to the bridge.

When we got there, Vinny, Helga, and Rourke were already standing there waiting for everyone else. I would have said something to Vinny, but Sweet, Mr. Moliere, Ms. Packard, and Milo showed up shortly afterward.

"Okay, everybody I want you to give Mr. Thatch your undivided attention." Rourke told us.

"Good afternoon." Milo greeted us nervously, "Can everyone hear me okay?"

"We can hear you just fine, Milo." I answered, trying to put him a little at ease. He looked at me, giving me a small smile.

"Okay," He continued on, still a little nervous, "How about we start with some slides?" He put in a slide, which happened to be the wrong one. It was a picture I took when we went to the beach for the day, it was of him in his swimming gear and a fishing pole and his cat playing with the fish he had caught, "The... the first slide is a depiction of a creature. A creature so frightening that sailors were said to be driven mad by the mere sight of it." He went on not knowing that he had the wrong one.

"Hubba, hubba." Packard remarked.

Milo looked at the slide embarrassed and apologized.

"Geez…" Audrey groaned, "I used to take lunch money from guys like this."

I looked down, shaking my head, and went over to Milo, "Let me help, I can put in the slides while you give your lecture. I know the order, you've given this speech to me enough times while you were practicing it for the board."

"Thank you, Tia." He responded gratefully, handing me the slides. I swiftly switched out the slides and he moved to continue on with his lecture.

"This is an illustration of the Leviathan the creature guarding the entrance to Atlantis." Milo explained.

"With something like that I would have white wine, I think." Vinny commented.

"I don't know, it looks like it could be paired with a rosé." I responded.

"And to think I thought you weren't a fan of seafood." Vinny rose an eyebrow.

"I'm not, but I got your attention." I smirked, "Now, give it to Milo." I looked back at Milo, "Keep going on about the Leviathan, Milo, we're listening."

Milo nodded, "It's a mythical sea serpent. He's described in the Book of Job. The... the Bible says "Out of his mouth go burning lights sparks of fire shoot out." But more likely it's a carving or a sculpture to frighten the superstitious."

"So, we find this masterpiece and then what?" Rourke asked him.

"When do we dig?" Mr. Moliere asked excitedly.

Milo gave me a nod, and I turned off the projector.

"Actually, we don't have to dig." Milo responded to Mr. Moliere. He then turned his attention to the chalkboard, "You see, according to the Journal the path to Atlantis will take us down a tunnel at the bottom of the ocean, and we'll come up a curve into an air pocket right here where we'll find the remnants of an ancient highway that will lead us to Atlantis. Kind of like the grease trap in your sink."

"Cartographer, linguist, plumber." Helga commented, "Hard to believe he's still single."

Rourke quickly dismissed us afterward as he was being called up to see what was going on.

"Maybe you should go up with him." I nudged Milo, "I'll talk to you later."

Milo went up with Rourke and Helga while the rest of the group went to their own departments. I went over with Mr. Moliere.

"Elle a dit qu'il y aurait creuser." Mr. Moliere said dejectedly as he walked away from the bridge.

_(She said there would be digging.) _

"On ne sait jamais." I responded, "Il y en a peut-être, mais vous avez été amené à plus que creuser. Vos recherches basées sur des cultures anciennes basées sur des échantillons de minéraux microscopiques sont extraordinaires.

_(You never know. There may be, but you were brought on for more than digging. Your research based on ancient cultures based on microscopic mineral samples is extraordinary.)_

"Parlez-vous français?"

"Oui, un peu." I answered.

As we continued down the hall, we continued to talk. Then suddenly, the submarine jolted sideways as if something had run into it. We were both knocked over. Mr. Moliere stood and helped me up.

"C'mon, we've got to get to pod!" Mr. Moliere exclaimed, took my head and ran to the torpedo pods.

"Monsieur Moliere, I don't think I should be over here." I told him as we reached the pods.

"You shouldn't, but neither of us have enough time to get you over to the evacuation pod." Vinny answered for him, glaring down at Mr. Moliere, and then looked back at me, "You'll be safer with us in one of these pods than trying to navigate you're way back."

After Vinny hopped into the pod, Mr. Moliere signaled for me to go in after him, and then he went in after me. I looked at the two seater pod in confusion.

"Either you share with me or Mole." Vinny stated, "Might be a little more comfortable if you sit with me."

I nodded in agreement, quickly sat down as Mr. Moliere closed the door, we buckled up and jetted off.


	9. Soldiering On

**Chapter Nine: Soldiering On**

"Seven hours ago, we started this expedition with 200 of the finest men and women I've ever known." Rourke said as we all looked down, paying our respects to those we lost, "We're all that's left. I won't sugar-coat it, gentlemen. We have a crisis on our hands. But we've been up this particular creek before and we've always come through, paddle or no paddle. I see no reason to change that policy now. From here on in, everyone pulls double duty. Everyone drives, everyone works." Rourke started to head up the steps, and then turned back to Milo, "Looks like all our chances for survival rest with you, Mr. Thatch. You and that little book."

"We're all going to die." Packard commented.

We all saddled up and headed into different vehicles. Mr. Moliere went into a giant driller truck, Audrey took an oiler, and Vinny and I went into the last truck.

"Surprised you didn't go with Milo." Vinny commented.

"As much as I adore Milo, he can't drive for shit." I replied, "The only thing he's ever driven is a bumper car at Coney Island. I'll admit I haven't been taught much about vehicles, Branson has been a bit hesitant in agreeing to teach me, but I do know more than Milo does. Although if you'd rather I drive with Milo instead of you, I can."

"No, you're fine." Vinny replied as we drove off, "I was just surprised that's all. You two seem pretty close."

"We're familiar." I shrugged, "We've worked together for a long time."

Within a matter of hours and multiple stops, Milo's truck was tied on to Mr. Moliere's. Milo directed us where to go and Mr. Moliere drove us to where Milo thought we needed to be. With a few wrong directions, we finally got to where we were going to rest for a bit.

As we were heading out of the Vinny's truck, we came across Milo who was drinking from a canteen that was in the back of the truck.

"Please tell me that's water." I said quietly to Vinny, who nodded.

"Not that I'm going to tell him that." Vinny retorted, I looked at him sharply. He sighed in exasperation, "He almost got us killed twice."

"Anyone can misread a-" I started to say, but it was too late Vinny was already making his way to Milo.

"You didn't just drink that, did you?" Vinny asked him, pretending to be concerned.

"Mm-hmm." Milo replied.

"That's not good." Vinny replied, "That's nitroglycerin."

Milo started to gag.

"Don't move." Vinny warned him, backing away slightly, "Eh, don't breathe. Don't do anything, except pray maybe."

Mr. Moliere jumped behind Milo, "BOOM!"

Milo screamed. Mr. Moliere and Vinny walked away laughing.

"Are you okay, Milo?" I asked, walking over to him, "I'm sorry about Vinny, he's a little peeved about the monster almost attacking us."

"Clearly." Milo scoffed.

"It was just water in the canteen." I told him, not knowing what else to say to him. Milo opened his mouth to say something, but Rourke called out for all of us to get back into our trucks. I got back into the truck with Vinny and we silently drove off.

After a few hours we stopped yet again, we couldn't bring some of the trucks up a few of the pathways that we had to go, so we ended up walking. By this point, everyone had gone a little harder on Milo and by proxy me to a degree since I sided with Milo. When everyone would dine together, Milo would sit with his books and research, trying to figure out his next move and I would sit with him, offering help where I could. He never touched his food, too consumed with work. I never touched mine either, but that was more because I didn't find it to be edible. Even with the driving anymore, I stayed in the car with Milo. I couldn't excuse how he was being treated, it was kind of sickening.

"Will you look at the size of this!" Milo exclaimed when we stopped at a pillar, blocking our path, "It's gotta be half a mile high at least." As he continued to talk, he took no notice of Vinny right beside his feet, setting up explosives to knock it down, "It... it must have taken hundred, no" He let out a breath, "thousands of years to carve this thing." Milo continued to say as Vinny dragged him away by the collar of his jacket to safety. He then dropped Milo on his ass, sat down next to him, and blew up the pillar.

After the pillar fell, Milo walked over to it sadly, not believing what he was seeing before him.

"Hey, look, I made a bridge." Vinny commented amused, "It only took me, like, what? Ten seconds, eleven tops."

I bit my lip to stop from laughing and headed back to the truck. We headed out shortly after and continued on until we hit another roadblock.

"Looks like we have a little roadblock." Rourke commented, and looked over at Vinny, "Vinny, what do you think?"

"I could unroadblock that if I had about 200 of these." Vinny held up a stick of dynamite, "Problem is I only got about..." He started to count, "10." He then looked down at his bag of loose explosives, "Plus, you know, five of my own and a couple of cherry bombs, a road flare." He listed off, "Hey, too bad we don't have some nitroglycerin, eh, Milo?"

Mr. Moliere started laughing hysterically. Milo rolled his eyes, "Tia already told me it was water."

"Looks like we're gonna have to dig." Rourke called up to Mr. Moliere, who looked down at us enthusiastically.

"It will be my pleasure." Mr. Moliere replied, holding up a thumbs up. However, when he started to drill into the wall, the engine started to combust and backfire. Audrey went over to the truck, with Milo right behind her to help her fix it.

"It looks like the rotor's shot!" Audrey called out annoyed, "I'm gonna have to pull a spare from one of the trucks."

As Audrey turned to walk away to go get a new rotor, she told Milo not to touch the vehicle. Promptly ignoring her request, Milo surveyed the driller's engine.

"Thought he didn't know anything about trucks." Vinny commented, walking over to me.

"He doesn't, but he does know a bit about machines." I replied as we watched Milo tinker with the vehicle's engine. After working with it for a bit, he hit one of the engine parts with a wrench. A few seconds later, the engine started to work.

"She lives!" Mr. Moliere cried out exuberantly. Upon hearing this and seeing the driller now working, Audrey promptly asked him what he did, to which he explained that it had everything to do with the boiler. It had been similar to the one in the Smithsonian that he had worked with for years. Audrey hit him a couple of times in the arm. We all headed back into our trucks and drove off.


	10. Enlightening Backstories

**Chapter Ten: Enlightening Backstories**

"All right, we'll make camp here." Rourke told us, calling to us to stop for the night.

"Why is it glowing?" Audrey asked about one of the rock formations above the bridge in front of us.

"Pah!" Mole brushed off her concern, "It is a natural phosphorescence."

"I don't know." I commented, not being able to brush off there being something more to it than that, "It seems a little eerie."

"That thing is going to keep me up all night, I know it." Vinny commented.

Without having much of a say in the matter, the tents were pitched and we were set here for the night.

"Tia, why haven't you brought out your tent for later?" Milo asked confused.

I shrugged, "I don't think I'll get much sleep here, so why bother with pitching the tent?" I then changed the subject, "You should get something to eat."

"Cookie will be bringing it by eventually." Milo responded, "You going to eat?"

"Doubtful." I responded, before picking up one of his books of the ground and starting to flip through it. As I did so, just as Milo had predicted, there was Cookie with the slop that he had prepared for this evening's feast.

"There you go Milo." He gave him a tray, "Put some meat on them bones."

"Thanks," Milo responded, "It looks greasier than usual."

"You like it? Well then have some more." Cookie smiled before dumping more of the slop on his tray, "You're so skinny, if you turned sideways and stuck out your tongue you'd look like a zipper." Cookie then turned his attention to me, "You eating tonight?"

"No."

"Suit yourself." He replied before walking off.

"Hey Milo, Tia, why don't you come sit with us?" Audrey called over to us.

"Really, you don't mind?" Milo asked excitedly. I slowly got up and flowed behind him.

"Nah," Audrey responded, "Park it here." She gestured to a spot between her and Sweet to sit at. Before he could sit down, Mole scurried behind him, placing a whoopee cushion on the rock.

"Mole!" Audrey, Vinny, and Sweet glared at him disapprovingly. Packard rolled her eyes at his antics.

"Ah, forgive me." Mole responded, "I could not resist."

"Miss Whitmore, you can take a seat in between me and Vinny." Packard commented nonchalantly, "There's a spot open here." She then casually pointed her cigarette to the spot. I thanked her and sat down next to them across from Milo. "Where's your food?"

"I didn't have much of an appetite."

"You never seem to, but who really does for what we're being fed." Packard responded, "Although, I've also seen you taking the vegetables out Cookie's truck."

I shrugged, "He refuses to cook with them, so I take advantage of the food he leaves to be spoiled."

"Hey, Milo, don't you ever close that book?" Audrey asked him.

"Yeah, you must've read it a dozen times by now." Sweet spoke up.

"I know, but this... this doesn't make any sense." He responded, "See, in this passage here, the shepherd seems to be leading up to something. He calls it the heart of Atlantis. It could be the power source the legends refer to. But then it just... it cuts off. It's almost like there's a missing page."

"Kid, relax." Vinny told him, "We don't get paid overtime."

"I know, I know. Sometimes I get a little carried away." Milo responded, "But, hey, you know, that's what this is all about, right? I mean, discovery, teamwork, adventure. Unless, maybe... you're just in it for the money." Each one of them confirmed they were there for the money, to which Milo sighed, "I guess I set myself up for that one."

"I'm here for the adventure, Milo." I told him.

"You're also not being paid to be here." Milo countered, which was true. I agreed with his sentiment, then went back to the book I was reading on Norwegian mythology.

"An Arapaho medicine man." I heard Sweet say a while later, peaking my interest pulling me from the book.

"Get outta here." Milo responded.

"Born and raised with 'em." Sweet told him, "My father was an army medic. He settled down in the Kansas Territory after he met my mother."

"No kidding." Milo replied amazed.

"Nope. I got a sheepskin from Howard U and a bearskin from old Iron Cloud. Halfway through medical school, I was drafted. One day I'm studying gross anatomy in the classroom, the next I'm sewing up Rough Riders on San Juan Hill."

Shortly after, Cookie came by to offer more food, to which each of them refused. Once he left each of them dumped theirs into the fire. They all went to the spots they had set up to pitch their tents for the night. I went to the back of the truck Milo and I had been driving with my book to hang out there until we needed to drive again.

**Milo's POV**

"Aren't you going to pitch up your tent?" Vinny asked.

"I did." I responded hesitantly, not knowing how to answer. I had been a little rusty due to lack of practice. He then proceeded to hand me his sleeping bag and pitch the tent for me, before taking his sleeping bag back, walking off, "I guess I'm still a little rusty at this. I haven't gone camping since well, the last time my grandpa took me."

"I never got to meet your grandfather." Audrey responded, "What was he like?"

I smiled softly and told her what I could remember.

**Tia's POV**

"I thought I'd find you here." I heard someone say. I looked up from my book to find Vinny leaning against the side of the truck. "May I join you?" I reddened slightly at his state of dress, but nodded. He then sat down next to me in the bed of the truck. "Why are you here? Why didn't you make camp?"

"I would tell you, but you'd think I'm crazy."

"Tia, I've known you for the past three years, there is nothing you could tell me that would make me think that of you." He responded, "I know you better. Tell me what's going on."

"I just have this feeling that something is going to happen." I told him, "I don't think we should have made camp here."

He nodded in understanding, "I remember you saying it was eerie. If you want I can stay here with you want."

"Oh, no, you should get some sleep." I objected, placing my hand on his without thinking. We both looked down at my hand placement, I quickly moved my hand as I started to blush, and started to backtrack, "I'm sure I'm over thinking things. We've been driving all day, I'm sure you're tired. You should try to get some rest. I'll be fine here."

"You know where to find me if you need me?" Vinny asked.

I nodded, "I do."

He started to get out of the bed of the truck, but stopped and turned back to me, "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

I gently smiled and kissed his cheek, before looking back at him, "I promise I'll come and find you if something happens. Try to get some sleep."

_'I can't believe I just did that.'_ I thought flustered by my actions as I watched him leave.

**Vinny's POV**

I stopped just before I got to camp to try to control my emotions. This was going to be harder than I had thought. I knew it would be difficult based on my feelings alone. Of course, I had felt something for Tia, but I never thought she'd ever consider anything more than friendship. _'What do I do now?'_ I sighed and then headed to my tent.

"Any idea where Tia went?" Sweet asked me.

I nodded, "She's in one of the trucks; she wasn't tired."

"Or camping's not good enough for her." Audrey commented, Sweet and I looked at her disapprovingly, "What? She's a socialite, born with a silver spoon in her mouth-"

Before Sweet or I could say anything to defend her, Milo spoke up, "You're wrong, Audrey." There was no malice or anger in his voice, only sadness, "Her family, they died in fire when she was a child; she was the only one to escape the home. When she was taken to her grandfather's, she had nothing but her pajamas and a locket around her neck. She's had pyrophobia – fear of fire – since."

"How'd you-" She started.

He looked down, "Her family lived next door to mine. I don't remember much about her when we were kids, she was a couple years older than me when it happened. I was seven at the time, just a couple of years older than her brother."

"I guess it was pretty lucky she got to live with her grandfather and be a socialite." Audrey commented.

"Mr. Whitmore may have money, but Tia is still Tia." Milo responded, "And she's not a social anything. I think she prefers books to people." Milo then changed the subject asked about Audrey and why she joined the expedition, which led into each one of us, whether we wanted to or not, telling him or back story.

**Tia's POV**

"Fire!" I heard Milo scream in the middle of the night. I got out to the truck to see what was going on, to see the whole camp blazing and bugs flying around everywhere. My eyes widened as I started to back away from the trucks filled with gasoline which could explode at any moment, but there was nowhere to go that didn't result in a fire.

"Tia!" I heard Sweet call, "Get in the truck!"

I hopped in the medical truck. Sweet got into the driver's seat, Vinny sat in the passenger seat next to me, and we drove furiously to escape the fire behind us.

As we got on the bridge behind Mole's digger, the rock formation that had been dangling above the bridge crashed into it. That mixed with the weight of the multiple trucks on the bridge caused it to split and collapse, sending us all crashing down backward into a dark pit.

Rourke lit a match, "All right, who's not dead? Sound off."

Each of us groaned and muttered.

"Danged lightning bugs done bit me on my sit-upon." Cookie complained, "Somebody's gonna have to suck out that poison. Now don't everybody jump up at once."

Rourke then turned on one of the headlights and Audrey was able to find a flashlight. He asked her what the damage was, to which she proceeded to tell him about the different rigs that were damaged and that the digger was fine.

"Lucky for us we landed in something soft."

"Pumice ash." Mole told us, "We are standing at the base of a dormant volcano."

Helga hit him with her flare gun and shot up to see how far it would go.

"It just keeps going…"

Vinny shrugged, "Maybe that's our ticket outta here."

"Maybe not." Helga responded.

Mole proceeded to tell us about the volcano and the magma in the bowels, with a couple of comments from Packard, before he was stopped by Sweet, "Hold on. Back up. Are you sayin' this whole volcano can blow at any time?"

Mole started shaking his head, "No, no, no, no; that would take an explosive force of great magnitude."

We all looked over at Vinny, who was currently messing with a bomb out of boredom.

"Maybe I should do this later, huh?"

"It might be for the best." I answered.

"If we could blow the top off of that thing, we'd have a straight shot to the surface." Rourke commented, "Mr. Thatch, what do you think? Mr. Thatch? Thatch?"

We all looked around, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Miss Whitmore, you want to be useful and see if you can locate Thatch?" He asked frustrated.

"You want to run that by me again, Commander?" I snapped back, turning on my heel to face him so that he could fully in take what I was going to say to him, "I believe you've forgotten whom you're speaking with and who controls how much, or if, you get paid in this little expedition. I am not here to take orders from you, I am here to supervise this trip. So I suggest, Commander Rourke, that if you'd like to find Milo, which I would since he is my friend and our only way of getting to Atlantis, that we find a way out of here." I looked back at everyone else, who were merely gaping at this point, except for Vinny, who seemed to be wearing a smirk. "Everyone else get in your trucks. Mole, find us a way out of here."


	11. Need to Know Basis

**Chapter Eleven: Need to Know Basis **

Alright, so the trucks and the rigs didn't work, but Mole was able to get his digger come on. He led the way with us running behind him. As he powered through the volcano, slowly we were able to see light coming through to the other side. And there, there was Milo, standing in front of a breathtaking waterfall.

"Sweet mother of Jefferson Davis!" Cookie exclaimed.

"It's beautiful." Audrey gasped.

"Milo, I gotta hand it to you." Sweet commented, resting his hand on his shoulder, "You really came through."

Suddenly, there was a screeching sound behind us. We turned around to see five people with masks pointing their spears at us.

"Uh, I take that back." Sweet told Milo.

"Holy cats!" Rourke exclaimed, "Who are these guys?"

"They gotta be Atlanteans." Milo answered.

"What?" Helga retorted, "That's impossible!"

Cookie commented something, but I tuned him out after it started to sound ridiculous. One of the Atlanteans then started to speak, to which Milo did his best to respond. He must have responded pretty well since she took off their mask and continued their conversation. Upon hearing that she spoke French, Mole excited went over to her and whispered in her ear. She then proceeded to punch him.

"Did you catch any of that?" Vinny asked quietly, interested if I had heard what he had said.

"Part of it and she was right to hit him." I whispered back.

Sweet clapped, "Ooh, I like her."

"Hmm! 'Bout time someone hit him." Audrey commented, "I'm just sorry it wasn't me."

"What did he say?" Vinny asked me as Milo was talking to Audrey about languages.

"You know I could tell you…" I smiled, "Or I could teach you the language and you could figure it out for yourself."

"You'd teach me French?"

"You already speak Italian," I shrugged, "French wouldn't be so hard for you to learn if you wanted to."

"Or you could tell me what you heard." Vinny pointed out.

"And where would the fun in that be?" I responded.

"We are explorers from the surface world." Rourke told the Atlantean girl, "We come in peace."

"Welcome to the city of Atlantis." The Atlantean girl told us, before turning her attention to Milo, she grabbed his wrist, "Come, you must speak with my father now." They ran off ahead.

Rourke told squad B to go back to the shaft and salvage what they could. The remaining four Atlanteans lead us into the village after we were able to get a couple of the trucks to work.

"Mole, personal space." I told him, removing his hand from my leg and moving a little closer to Vinny.

"You do it again, Mole, you walk." Vinny warned.

"I thought it was mine." Mole replied as we made it off the bridge and back on to land, "Vous n'êtes jaloux que parce que vous voulez le faire." I then proceeded to push him out of the truck.

"What did he say?"

"Learn French and you'd know."

"You pushed him out of the truck," Vinny replied, "What he say about you?"

I rolled my eyes, giving in, "It was about you. He said you were jealous that he did it and not you. Anything you want tell me, Vinny?"

"Not now."

**Vinny's POV**

We parked as Milo, Rourke, and Helga went in with the girl in to see her father. When they came out, we all volunteered Milo to speak with her to get answers.

"So what do we do now?" Audrey asked.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to explore the city." Tia responded. She walked away from us, but stopped and looked back up me, tilting her head with a small closed smile, "You want to come, Vinny?"

Sweet leaned into me, placing his hand on my shoulder, "Go get her, tell her how you feel, try to warn her about what I told you before it's too late."

I looked up at him and then looked back at her.

"I'll be right behind you." I called back to Tia. She nodded and continued to walk away. At that moment I noticed Rourke and Helga had already left.

"Is there something going on between you and Tia?" Audrey asked.

"Why would anything be going on between the two of them?" Cookie asked, "Whitmore hired him to look after her."

"How'd you know that?" I retorted.

"He made a deal with me to make sure she eats right and him," He pointed at Sweet, "to make sure she stays healthy. Why do you think I've let her steal food from my supplies? It wasn't a stretch to figure out who the bodyguard was."

"Do you like her Vinny?" Audrey asked again.

"No." I lied.

"Yes." Sweet answered.

"Oui." Mole agreed.

I sighed, "Alright, I have for years, not that I can do anything about it."

"Vinny, if you care about her at all, she needs to know what's going on." Audrey stated, "If not about you being hired to protect her, then about Rourke and what he's planning."

"She needs to know about what he's planning to do to her." Mole added.

"What do you mean?" I stopped him, I knew he had plans for Atlantis, but not Tia. "Mole, what is going on?"

"I heard him talking to Miss Sinclair in Iceland, they didn't know I was there, buried in the dirt retrieving samples." Mole said, "Tia's father was an inventor. He was hired to make a machine by the Commander, but when he found out what it was for, he locked it away so that no one could ever use it and hid away the key."

"What was the device?" Audrey asked.

Mole shrugged, "He did not say. All he said was that he followed what remains of the home to a door that had a heart shaped key and he would need Tia to guide him to her father's laboratory for him to get the machine and the other weapons."

"You need to find her Vinny." Sweet looked at me, "Now, before one of Rourke's men do. I'm sure he's not going to have her on her own for that long especially with how she talked to him earlier."

I nodded in agreement and ran off to go find Tia.


	12. Steal Your Heart Away

**Chapter Twelve: Steal Your Heart Away**

**Tia's POV**

"What happened to you'd be right behind me?" I asked hearing footsteps behind me. Vinny sat down next to me. "It wasn't hard to find me, I hope."

Vinny laughed lightly "No, I just asked the locals if they had seen a pretty brunette pass by and they led me straight here."

"You're kidding."

"I am." He responded, "I wasn't that far behind you, merely too far for you to hear me when I called after you as you headed out of the village."

"So you think I'm pretty?" I asked, teasing him a little.

"No." He replied, looking at me, "I think you're stunning."

My jaw dropped slightly, "You do?"

He nodded, "I always have, even in that yellow monstrosity you were wearing when I met you." He placed his hand on mine, "Tia, there's something I need to tell you."

**Vinny's POV**

There was so much to tell her, yet so few words could come to mind. I didn't know what I should tell her first. There was so much I wanted to tell her and I had it all ready as I made my way up to her. Even when I sat down, I knew what I was going to say. The moment she spoke, it all started to disappear. When her blue green eyes met mine, all I could think about was her in this moment.

"There are so many things I want to tell you." I told her, trying to regain focus as my attention was been stolen away by the angel in front of me, "I don't know where to start."

She then interlaced her fingers with me, moving closer, "Where do you want to start?"

"I'm not sure." I answered, knowing my focus was completely lost, as I felt my heart beating faster, "It's all kind of blurring together."

"Maybe this will help." She placed her free hand softly on my cheek, and then closed the gap between us with a kiss. I responded fervently, using every last bit of control I had not to push things further than a kiss.

I pulled away lightly, resting my head on hers, "I wish that was all I had to tell you. It would make things so much easier if all I had to tell you is that I've been in love with you for the longest time, but that's not even the beginning of it."

"What do I need to know, Vinny?"

I then proceed to tell her everything about Rourke and his plans for Atlantis and her, or at least everything I knew at this moment. I told her everything, except for how I was hired to be her bodyguard. It was of no importance now, I wasn't going to take the money. Not now that I knew she felt the same way that I did.

After I finished, she rested her head against my shoulder, "I had a feeling Rourke might be trouble. I mean it was a more recent feeling, but a feeling nonetheless."

"When'd you start feeling that?"

"Earlier when he told me to find Milo" She responded, "People don't typically speak to me that way, but if he thinks he's a man with nothing to lose, then that changes perspective."

"Why aren't you upset with me?"

"Because you, all of you, are being paid to do a job, one by my grandfather and the other by Rourke." She answered, "I just hope with the time comes, you do what you think is right, whether it be rebuilding your family's flower shop with the money you receive from Rourke or standing by Milo after Rourke tries to kill him for trying to stop him."

"And where will you be in all of this?"

"Right down there with Milo, trying to survive the chaos. He isn't going to be happy when I finds out I don't have the locket." She took off her silver heart shaped locket, and placed it in my hands.

"Why are you giving this to me?"

"I trust you." She told me, "I know I'll get it back whether it be after the expedition or after I'm gone."

"Nothing's going to happen to you." I promised her, "You are going to get this back as soon as it is safe to give it to you."

"Okay." She nodded. I kissed her head and snaked my arm around her waist.

We remained there silently as the sun began to set before heading back down to the village for dinner.


	13. Thrown Down

**Chapter Thirteen: Thrown Down**

**Tia's POV**

After dinner, a Vinny, Sweet, and I slipped down the corridor to talk.

"How much did he tell you?" Sweet asked.

"Enough to know Rourke is just here for a treasure hunt and wants me to lead him to another one." I responded.

"Okay, we have to meet Rourke to confront Milo, do your best to hide for as long as you can." Sweet told me, "Cause Squad B is coming back with an artillery. It's just for show, no one is supposed to get hurt."

"I'll do what I can." I promised before running off.

Before I could even find a good place to hide, however, I was grabbed by a member of Squad B and dragged outside to where the rest of the troops were stationed. Almost everyone had a gun in hand. Mole and Audrey were trying to secure a giant metal unit into a truck

"What do you with her, Commander?" The solider in front of me asked.

"Take her necklace and throw her in the truck." Rourke responded from inside of his truck.

As instructed the man in front of me reach for the locket I was no longer wearing, grazing my chest. Since I was restrained by the man behind me, I couldn't hit him. So I did next best thing, I kicked him.

"If you had decided to clean your mask every once in a while you would have seen that I'm not wearing a necklace." I told him as he doubled over in pain, "And even if I were, it doesn't go down that far."

"If she doesn't have the necklace, let her go. We have no use for her." Rourke told the soldier restraining me, "She can die with Thatch." The soldier then proceeded to throw me on to the ground. As I landed on pavement, I heard something crack. Hoping it was nothing too serious, slowly, I stood with the Atlanteans and watched the scene before me unfold.

Audrey and Mole hoisted the metal unit into the truck while the soldiers of Squad B kept everyone back.

"So, I guess this is how it ends, huh?" Milo chastised them, "Fine, you win. You're wiping out an entire civilization, but hey, you'll be rich." He then pointed out Audrey and Vinny as examples on what they could do with the money.

"Get off your soap box, Thatch." Rourke got out of the truck, "You've read Darwin, it's called natural selection. We're just helping it along."

"Commander, we're ready." Helga called out to him.

"Give me a minute." He responded, "I know I'm forgetting something. I've got the cargo, the crystal, the crew…" He listed off, "Oh yeah..." He then proceed to deck Milo, hurling backwards on to the pavement.

"Milo!" I rushed over to him.

Before I could grab the item that slipped out of his satchel, Rourke stepped on his framed picture and caught his glasses midair, cleaning them, "Look at it this way son, you're the man who discovered Atlantis and know you're part of the exhibit." He then tossed his glasses to him. Milo removed the shards of glass to get the picture of him and his grandfather out of the frame.

When I tried to help him back up, I bolt of pain shot through my arm. It was then I had noticed the blood. Not wanting to leave him there, I held out other hand, but this time I had help. Audrey was there right beside, supporting Milo. Vinny was next to follow. Then Cookie, and Mole, and Packard.

"Oh, you can't be serious?" Rourke asked them.

"This is wrong and you know it!" Audrey exclaimed.

"We're this close to our biggest payday ever and you pick now of all times to grow a conscious?"

"We've done a lot of things we're not proud of." Vinny told him, "Robbing graves, plundering tombs, double parking, but nobody got hurt." He then backtracked and corrected himself, "Well, maybe somebody got hurt, but nobody we knew."

"If that's the way you want it, fine, more for me." Rourke waved off their arguments and headed into his truck. He then drove away.

As he left, the waterfall began to dissipate and the Atlantean crystals light faded.

"We can't let him do this!" Milo exclaimed, starting to run after him, but Vinny pulled him back.

"Wait a second." He warned. The bridge exploded, Vinny and Milo barely escaping the remnants of the blast. "Okay, now you can go."

Before Milo could reply, he was called up to the king's chambers by Sweet. He quickly stood and ran to see what was going on.

"What happened to you?" Audrey asked, looking down at my wounded arm.

"I injured it when I fell." I responded nonchalantly.

"When you were thrown." Audrey corrected.

"I'll talk to Sweet about it when all of this is over." I told her, "If he's going to take a look at one injury, he might as well take a look at multiple and save some time. It doesn't hurt unless I move it and right now we have more important things to deal with. Is it really that noticeable?"

"It looks like you banged it up pretty bad."

I pulled down my sleeve a little more to cover the wound, "Then we call it a scrape and move on until it makes sense to get medical attention."

"Fine." She agreed, "But if you collapse, I'm getting you to Sweet."

"I should hope so." I replied as the others joined us. Milo and Sweet came out shortly afterward.

"Where are you going?" Audrey asked Milo as he walked past us.

"I'm going after Rourke." Milo retorted, briefly looking over his shoulder.

"Milo, that's crazy!" Audrey called after him.

He held up his hands, "I didn't say it was the smart thing, but it is the right thing."

"He has a point." I agreed.

Audrey sighed, "C'mon, we better make sure he doesn't hurt himself."

We followed him down to a machine that looked like a fish used for transportation. After having us pair off and showing each of us how to launch our flying fish, we sped off after Rourke.

"Okay, here's the plan." Milo called back to us, "We're gonna come in low and fast, take them by surprise."

"I've got news for you, Milo," Audrey responded, "Rourke is never surprised and he's got a lot of guns."

"Great!" Milo exclaimed, "Well, do you have any suggestions?"

"Yeah, don't get shot!" Vinny advised.

"Speaking of shooting, do these things have defensive mechanisms on them, Milo?" I asked him, "Or are we more like sitting ducks?"

"We'll have to find that out as we go." He answered.

"That's not helpful." I mumbled as we headed into the war zone.

"There they are!" Milo shouted to us.

"We've got company!" Rourke shouted to his men.

And so the battle began. Arrows against bullets. Planes and air balloons against Atlantean technology. It was chaos. The fish did have some type of electrical blast it could fire, which helped.

"Vinny, Tia!" Milo called over to us, "We can't let her reach the top of that shaft!"

We both nodded and followed after him. When that plan failed, Milo gave us and Audrey and Sweet different orders. Milo's fish and ours were going to be decoys, while Sweet and Audrey were going to cut the storage unit the princess was in from the hot air balloon. As this plan was starting to go south, Milo took matters into his own hands by destroying one of the side balloons himself and bringing a fight directly to Rourke.

As we were trying to distract some of the planes from Squad B, something caught my eye. One of the machine guns was pointed at Mole's fish.

"Vinny," I said getting his attention, "Mole."

He looked over at Mole, who was plummeting to the ground.

"I'll get over to him," Vinny told me, "I'm going to need you to catch him."

I gulped, "Okay."

We were able to reach him in time for me to catch him before he reached the ground. As I pulled him up, he remarked, "Du sang…" I looked back at him as he adjusted behind me, he looked at me sadly, "Vous saignez."

All I could do in that moment was nod as we landed our machine next to the metal containment unit.

As the volcano was erupting, we quickly attached the unit to whatever fishes we had left and tried to fly away with the container. However, in our haste, it was attached improperly for the wait and it broke off. Milo climbed down, reattached it, and we flew off with him handing on to the unit. When we reached the city, the unit was set down gently and Milo let the princess out. With the princess and the crystal returned, the city came to life, protecting its inhabitants from the disaster that was about to incur. After the city was safe and restored, the princess floated back down and into Milo's arms.

As I looked at the city, my vision started to blur and everything faded slowly faded to black.

**Sweet's POV**

A gasp erupted the crowd as we stared at the city. It would have made sense if it hadn't been out of horror.

"Doc, I think you might be needed over here." I heard Packard say in her typical disgruntled tone, "Seems like this one's lost quite a bit of blood."

Confused, the others and I looked back at her to find her kneeling on the ground, next to Tia, her hand on her pulse.

"She passed out." Packard told us.

Audrey shook her head and told me, "I told her she should have had you check it out."

"What happened?"

"It must have happened when she was thrown." Milo replied, "It was a pretty hard fall." He then turned to Kida, "Is there anywhere we can take her to have Sweet look at her?"

"Why not use the crystal to heal her?" Kida asked.

"I want to make sure I know what injuries are sustained and that they are cleaned before I agree to anything."

**Tia's POV**

_ "Ring around the rosie… pocket full of posies… ashes… ashes… we all fall down…" I heard the neighborhood children sing._

_"Chrissy!" My brother called, "Come and play!"_

_"Not now." I told him from the other side of the door, continuing to read._

_"Why not?" He whined, "You promised!"_

_"I'll play with you tomorrow, Michael!" I told him._

_"But you promised!" He cried._

_"Tomorrow!" I shouted back. _

_The promise was empty though, for Michael would not see tomorrow._

Awaking, I slowly sat up, wiping a tear from my eye. I should have been better to him while I still had him. He deserved so much better. It wouldn't have hurt to go play with him.

"Good to see you up." Sweet commented as he walked into the room.

"Where am I?" I asked him, taking in my surroundings.

"In Kida's quarters." Sweet replied, "She wanted you to be comfortable while you healed. You cut open a vein when you injured your arm. You had a laceration from your wrist to your elbow and a broken arm. After I was able to clean you up, Kida took the crystal to your arm and it healed it right up."

"How long have I been out?" I asked.

"A few hours." Sweet answered, "You should get some rest though to make sure you're okay for the journey back."

"I don't think that's going to happen."

He sighed, "Then try not to hurt yourself before we leave tomorrow."

"I won't." I responded before getting out of the bed and heading out the door.

**Sweet's POV**

I shook my head as I headed out of the room, walking right into Vinny and Mole, who had been with her for the entire time she had been passed out. I had briefly sent the two out to get something to eat shortly before Tia had awakened.

"You just missed her." I told them, "Don't ask where she went, she didn't say."


	14. The Beginning of the End

**Chapter Fourteen: The Beginning of the End**

The next morning, we left the city. Kida gave each of us a crystal and many different pieces of gold and other ancient artifacts. Each of us said our goodbyes to Milo, who decided to stay behind, and the Atlanteans took us up to the surface as promised.

"So anyone know where we are?" I asked as we walked around the village we were dropped off at. We all shot a glance over to Tia, who merely shrugged.

"I would have to hear someone speak the language to give you a rough guess of where we are," She told us, "But guessing by the architecture, we're somewhere in Scandinavia. But there are no people around, so I have nothing to confirm that."

"So what do we do?" Audrey asked.

"I don't know about you all, but I'm going to go see if there's a pub or an inn or something, figure out where we are and how we can get back home." Tia responded.

"That's a good idea." Cookie replied, "But we don't have any money."

"No, we have something better." Tia gestured to the crates, "And something they might actually accept other the American dollar."

Cookie and Mole opened their mouths to argue, but Tia spoke up before they could, "I really don't give a shit if we have to give things up to get back home and neither should you unless you want to live here yourself." She looked around at us, "Anyone staying here?" We all remained silent. "No? Good."

Knowing we could not argue with her, or at least respond with an argument she would listen to, we followed her through the village until she found an inn.

"God kveld" The inn keeper greeted.

Tia smiled and greeted him in return, "God kveld, har du tilfeldigvis en telefon som jeg kunne bruke?"

He shook his head, "Nei, vi har ikke en her."

"Vet du hvor jeg kan sende en telegraf?"

"Jeg kan sende en for deg." He replied, handing her a piece of paper "Skriv ned meldingen og hvem den er til, så sender jeg den."

"Tusen takk" Tia wrote something on the paper and gave it to the inn keeper. He then walked away. She turned to us, "We're in Norway. No telephone, but a message is being sent to my grandfather now. We may be here for a while, I'll try to see if there are any rooms available when he gets back and if he'll agree to a barter."

After the inn keeper came back, Tia talked to him in Norwegian for a short while and then he went back to his office.

"So he is willing to give us room and board." Tia informed, "But he doesn't want a trade, he wants free labor. Half of his staff is sick. Vinny and Mole, you'll be in the garden, cleaning it up, he'll give me a list of everything the two of you have to do so I can translate it. I'll be in the kitchen with Cookie."

"What about us?" Audrey asked her, referring to the two of us and Packard.

"That's all he needed done." She replied.

"Do you cook?" I asked her.

"No, but I can prevent Cookie from just serving grease."

"I serve the four basic food groups!" Cookie argued.

"There's five." She corrected, "Fruits, vegetables, protein, dairy, and grain and I believe only two of which you actually served on the expedition."

"You ate all my fruits and vegetables."

"You weren't using them."

"What else was I going to leave you to eat?" Cookie retorted, "You wouldn't eat anything I made."

Knowing someone should speak up before anything else came out, I asked, "So what are the rooming arrangements going to be?"

"Two to a room with me on my own. Sweet, you're will Mole, if you could reintroduce him to soap, the inn keeper thought he was our pet. Audrey, you and Packard are bunking together. Vinny, you're with Cookie."

The inn keeper came back out with the keys and led us to our rooms. We stayed in the inn for three weeks before Professor Whitmore was able to have a ship bring us back to Washington D.C. When we returned, we were met with not only payment for our services, but new clothing, room and board, and an evening of food and festivities.

**Tia's POV**

"You've really outdone yourself." I told my grandfather, standing next to him, watching the people dance, "You usually aren't fond of these parties."

"It was Miss Corey's idea as a way to welcome you and the team home." Grandfather replied, "I believe she mentioned something about having them introduced to society."

I rolled my eyes, "Really?"

"I think she had more of interest in meeting the team." Grandfather responded, "Things did not work out with Mr. Collis."

"They never do with the suitors her father chooses."

Grandfather looked at me, "Then maybe you should introduce her to someone." Then looked to Anna, who was sitting at a table on her own, "I'm sure you know of someone, you've spent enough time with them."

I nodded, "I think I just might." I then made my over to Sweet, who was making small talk with Audrey and Mole, "Do you mind if I borrow Sweet for a moment?"

Audrey and Mole shook their heads.

"Where are you taking me?" Sweet asked.

"I'm about to change your life." I told him with a smile.

"Then by all means lead the way."

I lead him to Annabeth, whom upon seeing him, lit up, "Dr. Joshua Sweet, may I introduce you to my friend, Annabeth Corey. Anna, Dr. Sweet was the medical officer on the trip I was on." I introduced them, "I'll leave you to converse."

As I walked away, I heard Sweet ask Anna, "Would you like to dance?"

While I was heading up the stairs, I ran into Cookie, who was on his way down.

"Cookie, have you seen Vinny?" I asked.

"Probably in the library, he just finished talking to the Professor a while ago." Cookie responded, "Surprised you're looking for him, thought you'd be a little upset about him being your bodyguard."

"I'm sorry, what?" I seethed, before he could say anything I headed to the library to confront him.

"It was all a lie, wasn't it?" I asked upset. Vinny turned around looking at me in confusion. He opened his mouth to reply, but I continued, "You were only around me cause my grandfather was paying you money?"

"No, it started out that way," I turned to walk away, but he pulled me back, "but everything's different now. Something I hadn't expected, I-"

I pulled my arm away. "Stop it! From the very beginning you lied." I retorted and pushed him away. "And I not only believed you, I actually..." I turned and started to walk away. "Ugh..."

He went in front of me. "I'm sorry I lied. Mr. Whitmore wanted me to look after you, sorta like controlled freedom. But something happened along the way-"

"No kidding!" I retorted furiously.

"You gotta believe me."

"How can believe anything you say at this point?" I retorted.

He sighed, "That is what I'm trying to tell you. I didn't plan for it to happen, but it did. I'm in love with you, Tia."

"You can go to hell. You and my grandfather both." I retorted and ran away.


	15. An Unexpected Alliance

**Chapter Fifteen: An Unexpected Alliance**

**Audrey's POV**

A week after the party, Professor Whitmore called us all into his office to go over everything and what the plan was moving forward.

"Now, let's go over it again, just so we've got it straight." He told us, "You didn't find anything?"

"Nope, just a lot of rocks and fish, little fish, and sponges." Vinny replied emotionlessly.

"What happened to Helga?" Whitmore asked.

"Well we lost her when a flamin' zeppelin came down on her." Cookie answered, only to be hit on the head by Packard with her umbrella, "Uh, missin'."

"That's right." Whitmore nodded, "And Rourke?"

"Nervous breakdown." Sweet responded, "You could say he went all to pieces"

Cookie then tried to say what had actually happened to Rourke, to which Packard then threatened him with her umbrella, causing him to change his answer to missing.

"What about Milo?" Whitmore asked.

"Went down with the sub." I shrugged, petting Milo's cat, sitting in my lap. It was only a few moments after that Mole had lost most of his clothes and had buried himself in the potted plant beside me.

After opening the letter we brought back from Milo, Whitmore dismissed us. As Sweet and I pulled Mole out of the plant and forced him back into his new clothes, a letter dropped from his pants. He quickly picked it up once his pants were on and slipped it back into his pocket. He then scurried upstairs to his room.

"What do you think that was about?" I asked Sweet.

"It's Mole, who knows." Sweet responded.

**Mole's POV**

When I reached my room, I quickly closed the door and pulled out the letter, opening it once more.

_Mole,_

_Cela doit rester entre nous, mais j'ai besoin que vous veniez au pays pour m'aider avec quelque chose sur lequel je travaille. J'ai besoin de quelqu'un avec l'expertise dans le sol. Le billet de train inclus vous emmènera où je pourrai vous rencontrer et nous y conduirons ensemble. Je m'exposerai sur le chemin._

_A bientôt, j'espère._

_Tia_

_**(This has to stay between us, but I need you to come out to the country to help me with something that I am working on. I need someone with the expertise in soil. The train ticket included will take you where I can meet you and we will drive there together. I will expain on the way. Hope to see you soon.)**_

I looked down at the ticket and then pocketed it and the letter, before pulling out my suitcase to pack my bag. There was nothing more I could do here for now and the secrecy peaked my interest. I wanted to help Tia, I just didn't know why she was reaching out to me. I'd know soon enough, I was leaving in the morning.


	16. Rebuilding the Past

**Chapter Sixteen: Rebuilding the Past**

**Tia's POV**

"Where are we going?" Mole asked when I met him at the station.

"Somewhere that needs a little help."

"Why me?"

"Because the place is covered in ash."

**Mole's POV**

As we walked through the town and up to the burnt Victorian home, my face fell as I started to process where we were, which only became more evident as I followed her inside. The town had been desolate and the home should have been demolished many years ago. The fact that it still remained standing after all of this time given the damage it sustained was astonishing and heartbreaking reminder for the only living person to last live in it, which had been clearly visible across Tia's visage.

"This is all that remains of my childhood." She remarked sadly as we looked around at the burnt walls and rooms, "These had been the borders of my life. This little home where an inventor loved his wife."

"You would like to rebuild the home and the town." I stated, and then added, "How will you do that? Do you have money of your own?"

"Some." She nodded, "I worked with the Smithsonian for a few years and while it is not much, it's a start. I have a plan, Monsieur Moliére." She smiled down at me, "It's up to you how far you want to follow me down this rabbit hole."

"I am here to help."

"You are." She agreed.

"Then what do you want me to do."

From there, a partnership was formed between the two of us, one based on mutual respect for each other's skills. Both knowing we could learn from one another. And we did. After a month of walking, I bought a Model T Ford Runabout that had been a little beat up due to being a few years old that could be refurbished with a little work so that I could teach Tia not only how drive a vehicle. As the days progressed, we found livable nearby housing and both got into our own routine of finding odd jobs until it led us to one where we could work together. Our specific talents led us to solving mysteries of nearby towns. There had been one small bump in the road as we were finding our way. This lead us to writing to Sweet since where we were currently located had no physician for miles, who came on the next train with Miss Corey and stayed with us for the next several months before moving out west. Tia's time with Vinny had left behind a gift, her name was Olivia. She had been a blue eyed dark haired angel who was spoiled by everyone who came across her. Not that she came across too many, Tia tended to keep her indoors after people started to live in the town that had slowly been rebuilt with help from contractors, specialists, and volunteers. As the years progressed, the entire town had seen new life and Tia's childhood home had finally become livable. The only thing left to do was to figure out what had happened to the home and the town itself, but for that, we'd need help. For that, I sent two letters, each to someone who knew about engineering, one mechanical and one chemical.

**Audrey's POV**

_-1919-_

I read through the letter again confused due to the lack of detail from Mole, what had been even more confounding is that the return address had been from somewhere in Virginia. It wasn't too far though, I could probably get there by train pretty easily. I wrote Mole back, letting him know I would come and that I'd be there by the end of the week.

**Vinny's POV**

I looked at the letter one more time, it had been awhile since I had seen Mole and a vacation could do me some good. The location was a short drive from Washington D.C. where I had my shop located, I could drive down at the end of the week. I wrote Mole back, letting him know I'd be there this weekend.


	17. A Trip to Ember Hollow

**Chapter Seventeen: A Trip to Ember Hollow**

I arrived in Ember Hollow on a gloomy, overcast Saturday, which seemed to match the seemingly melancholy town I had passed through to reach the address Mole was reaching out to me from. The Victorian home of the address had been a little intimidating upon first glance until I got closer and saw the bronze plaque on the door:

_RESCUE AID SOCIETY_

_Call on us anytime_

"Mole, what have you been up to?" I questioned, then rang the doorbell. After a few moments, the door opened and I was greeted by a young man in his early twenties.

"Welcome to the Rescue Aid Society," The man told me, "my name is Will, how may I assist you?"

"I'm looking for Gaetan Moliére." I responded, trying to say Mole's name correctly. He let me inside, closing the door behind me. "He asked me to come."

"Oh, you're one of Mole's guests." Will responded, "We were expecting you, his other guest is in the library. I'll show you the way, follow me." He then led me down the hall and into the library. "If you could wait here, Mole will be with you shortly." Then closed the door behind him.

"Vinny, it's good to see you, it's been awhile." I heard from behind, "How's the flowershop?"

Knowing the familiar voice, I smiled lightly before turning around to face Audrey, "Good. How's the garage?

"Good." She responded, "Any idea what we're doing here?"

"No."

"You're both here to help Mr. Mole with whatever is in the basement." We heard a young voice on the other side of us. We looked to the other side of us, which had a desk and a chair that was currently facing the bookshelf behind it. The chair swiveled around to reveal a young dark haired, blue eyed girl with a book in her hands. She set down the book, which upon closer inspection had been Edgar Rice Burrough's Tarzan of the Apes, on the desk.

"Aren't you a little young to be reading that?" Audrey asked.

"Aren't you a little old to be agreeing to go somewhere without knowing what you're agreeing to?" The girl countered, and then moved on here, "My mother taught me to read and since I spend most of my time in here, I have a pretty vast selection. This is much easier to get through than Verne's novels."

"Olivia, I thought I told you to be in another room this morning." Mole told her as he walked into the room.

"And that's why I'm in here." The young girl, Olivia, responded, "You didn't tell mother you were having people come to help with what she's doing in the basement. I want to see her face when she finds out."

"Hey kid, what's your mom's name?" Audrey asked, curiously.

"Chr-" Olivia started, before Mole spoke up.

"That's enough out of you." Mole told her, rushing her out of the library. She then knocked at the door to which he opened.

"If you're going to kick me out, at least give me my book." She told him, holding out her hand. He gave her the book and then closed the door.

"I'll have to go over this quickly before she tells her mother." Mole told us.

"Who is her mother?" Audrey asked again.

Mole looked down, biting his lip, "You'll know soon enough."

"Then why not tell us?" Audrey asked, "It's not like she has anything to do with us being here."

"It does." Mole responded, "It's her family home."

Audrey looked at him confused, "You invited us to random woman's home to help her with her basement?"

"I invited you to help a friend." Mole corrected, "Whether she wants it or not."

"Do we know this friend?" Audrey asked, to which Mole nodded reluctantly as the door opened to reveal Tia. She was coming in with blue prints in hand, as she read through a journal.

"Well, Mole, attempt number 563 has failed." She stated, setting the blueprints down on the desk, and turned around, leaning on the desk, setting the journal down, "So I'm told you hired people to help with the laboratory." She then looked over to us, "Hello Audrey, Vinny." Then looked back at Mole, "Olivia mentioned it as I was heading over. I thought we agreed that we would ask for help when we had run out of options."

"You've just finished attempt number 563," Mole reminded her, "We've reached that point."

"Oh I don't disagree." Tia replied, "But for them to be here now means you wrote them a while back." She looked back at us, "How long?"

"About a week." I answered.

"Same."

She nodded, and continued, "Well, since you're here, you might as well help."

This had been her family's home that she and Mole had rebuilt along with a few others like Will that they had enlisted into their group along the way. The town had been reconstructed by the group and other volunteers as well. Currently, two of the other members of their team were out of the state. The only thing they hadn't done was the laboratory in the basement, which was filed with different machines and weaponry. The only problem was that there was no access into laboratory. There had been so much damage to the only known door that it wouldn't open. They needed access into the room without destroying the home in the process.

"Have you thought about trying to find another way in?" Audrey asked.

"Yeah," She nodded, holding back up the journal, "And I thought it'd be mentioned somewhere in his research journal, but it has pages ripped out and what's remaining of the pages are burnt. I've tried to study what is left in the journal to see what is at least in the laboratory so that we could maybe just leave it alone, but the jargon makes it even harder."

"Can I see the journal?" I asked her.

"Have at it." She responded, tossing me the journal, "You'd probably know more about what it's talking about than I do. If you could study it and let me know what it says in more layman's terms that would be very helpful."

"How can I help?" Audrey asked.

"That's up to Mole, the laboratory is now his project." Tia replied, pushing herself off the desk, "I'm taking a few days off. If you want to stay here, you're both more than welcome to, there's more than enough room." With that she left.

"How can I help, Mole?" Audrey asked.

"Help find what's in the journal and how to restore the laboratory." Mole answered, "She may say it can stay the way it is, but it would make her happy if it could be. It would be even better if it could be made safe for Olivia as well."

"Is Olivia yours?" Audrey asked Mole.

Mole vigorously shook his head, "No, no."

"How old is she?" I asked him.

"Five." Mole answered

She was mine.


	18. Conversation Over Books

**Chapter Eighteen: Conversation Over Books**

**Tia's POV**

A day off for me always consisted of the same thing. I ran errands with Olivia, which included a trip to the general store, the post office, and then back home. She and I would then make dinner together. It may seem mundane to most, but it was a relaxing routine for me. For the next two days, I would probably take her to see Grandfather. The only time she really got to see him outside of holidays was when I took multiple days off.

"Pick out three books, Olivia." I told her, packing her suitcase, "We're leaving for the weekend."

"Okay!" She hopped off the bed and ran out.

"I meant it, Olivia, three!" I called after her, before sighing, "She's going to bring back more than three." I then rearranged the clothing I had packed to fit however many books she decided to bring. It wouldn't be too many more I shouldn't think, it's not like she could carry that many herself. Unless she convinced someone to carry them for her, which is exactly what she did. She came in fifteen minutes later with Vinny behind her, she had five books in her hand and he had ten.

"I said three." I reiterated.

"And I multiplied that by five." She replied setting her books on the bed. A linguist and a scientist have a kid, there was no possible outcome of that kid not being highly intelligent.

"You're not bringing fifteen books." I crossed my arms.

"What about ten?" She asked.

"Pick five." I instructed, "That's the highest I'll go."

"Okay." She agreed, and then proceed to choose five:

_The Secret Garden_

_A Little Princess_

_Pollyanna_

_Peter Pan_

_Anne of Green Gables_

I then put the books in the suitcase. As she proceed to sit down, I spoke up, "No, you're putting the rest of those away; you carted them here you can take them back."

"I can't carry all of them."

"Then make more than one trip." I responded, "Now go, we have to get you packed so we can get you ready for bed."

"Alright." She agreed, setting The Wind in the Willows on the bed before picking up a few before heading out the door.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Vinny asked after she left.

"At first, I was angry and then life got in the way." She responded softly.

"You should have told me."

I bit back the urge to tell him that he should have told me about the deal he had made, but it would have been out of spite and anger, which didn't do anything, especially when I know he didn't take the money he was offered for the job. If I could forgive my Grandfather for making the deal in the first place, I could forgive Vinny for agreeing to it before anything really happened between us. Should I have reached out sooner? Yes, but the past can be changed.

"I should have," I nodded, "but I can't change that, so we're left with what's in front of us. You have a daughter, she's five, and now you know she exists. It's up to you what you do with that information from there."

After a few moments, he asked, "Does she know?"

"She knows about you," I replied, "but she doesn't believe it. She thinks the trip to Atlantis is just a story. Isn't that what everyone was told? There was nothing there except for rocks and fish. After I told her, she ended up asking Mole and Grandfather about and they told her the version of events that had been agreed upon to tell the public."


	19. Gathering to Journey Back

**Chapter Nineteen: Gathering to Journey Back**

When Olivia and I arrived at my Grandfather's estate, we were ushered into his study. Grandfather was going over paperwork, which he set down once the door had been closed behind us.

"Tia, how do you feel about going back down to Atlantis?" Grandfather asked.

"What?" My jaw dropped.

"It's real?" Olivia asked.

"I told you." I responded to her and then asked Grandfather, "Why would we go back?"

"I've been looking at a few of the files you've sent me and I think it would help if we could convince Milo to come back to the surface, at least temporarily."

"If that's what it takes to solve these;" I replied, "it'd be nice to see Milo again. I can let Mole, Audrey, and Vinny know."

"I was unaware you were in contact with Vinny."

"Mole invited him and Audrey to help with the last of the renovations, they arrived yesterday."

"Write to Mole, have them drive here instead of going back." Grandfather instructed, "We can leave when they arrive."

"What about Olivia?"

"We'll bring her along." Grandfather replied, "It'll be a good education for her, it was for you."

"It'd be risky to take her all the way down." I mauled over the thought, "But she should be safe enough on the ship with Branson or someone who can stay with her and she can stay with you while we're working."

"What if I want to go?" Olivia asked.

"You're not old enough to make the journey down." I told her, "You'll enjoy yourself on the ship, there'll be more than enough for you to explore."

Disappointedly, she agreed. As Grandfather started up a conversation with her, I stepped out to compose a letter to Mole, so that I could set in the letter box in the morning before the postman arrives. It would most likely take a couple of weeks to get to Mole. While it would have probably taken less time for me to drive down there to go and get them, it was probably better this way. Olivia would be here while would be solving the cases that Milo would be needed for, it would be better if she got to know the place more.

**Mole's POV**

It was about a week after Tia left that Audrey and Vinny were finally able to find their way into the laboratory. The notes, journals, and instructions for any of the inventions they found, however, were illegible due to being written. The gadgets and mechanisms that were left had little to no function without the instructions and notes for them.

"What is this?" Audrey asked, referring to language of the notes that she had found.

"It looks like a cipher of some sort." Vinny responded, flipping through the journal in his hands, "Without a code or key to decipher it, it's basically untranslatable."

"You know what would help right now?" Audrey asked, we both looked at her deadpanned, both with a guess as to how she was about to continue, "If we knew a bookish linguist who could translate this for us." She then turned her attention to me, "When is Tia coming back?"

I shrugged, "When she chooses to; unless there's an emergency, she comes back when she wants to when she goes up to see Mr. Whitmore with Olivia. There hasn't been an emergency, therefore we haven't sent for her to come back. We'll probably hear within the next couple of days when she'll be heading back."

"Then what do we do until then?" Audrey asked.

"Enjoy Ember Hollow." Will answered as he headed into the library where we were talking, "Mole, Peter's here. He left the Hannagan residence is looking for a place to stay."

"Do the Hannagans know?" I asked, to which he shook his head, I nodded, "Find him a room, try keep it quiet as possible that he's here until I can reach out to Tia to see what she wants to do about it. I'll let you know if we need to send a wire to any of the volunteers to take him in."

"He's pretty adamant about seeing Tia."

"Then we'll have him stay here until I can reach out to Tia."

Will nodded and left.

"Who's Peter?" Vinny asked.

"A boy we've been trying to help." I answered, "We ran across him a year ago in Maine and offered to help him, but he didn't want it at the time. Tia gave him our address and told him that if he ever needed somewhere to go or someone to help to reach out."

"How could he have gotten all the way down here?" Audrey asked.

"We get letters and people from all over." I replied, "There's always a way to get here for those who seek to find it." After a couple of critical stares, I added, "We have volunteers who support our cause all over the globe that are fairly spread out. He most likely had help getting down here."

Towards the end of the week, I headed down the mail office to send a wire to Tia. However, there was already a letter there waiting for me. After reading the letter, I gathered Audrey and Vinny and we made our way up to Washington D.C.


	20. A Key to Communication

**Chapter Twenty: A Key to Communication **

**Tia's POV**

Within a matter of weeks, the team was gathered together. They were informed of the journey ahead and the first of the three cases that we were looking to solve. We'd get into the second one after we figured out what was going on with the Kraken sightings. Everything was set up for us to embark in the morning, or at least I thought it had been.

"So, why'd you wait this long to tell me Peter finally reached out?" I asked Mole, crossing my arms and leaning against the desk in the study. The four of us, Mole, Vinny, Audrey, and I were holding an impromptu meeting about the events that had occurred while I was away.

"The situation was handled, I didn't see a reason to bother you about it." Mole responded, "He's with Will now and he's pretty adamant about staying."

I took a deep breath and told him, "Alright, as soon as we return from Atlantis, write to Cassandra, Wesley, and Declan; we'll need them if Peter is going to stay."

"You're going to train him…" Mole surmised.

"There isn't anyone who lives in that house, other than Olivia, who isn't part of the society." I replied. Mole opened his mouth to retort, but I spoke up before he could say anything, "He's thirteen, he's not too young to start. Plus, he has to finish his education, he won't be doing anything remotely dangerous until then. We also have to figure out where his skills lie so that we know what types of missions to send him on." I then looked at Vinny and Audrey, so I could address their topic, "Did you bring the papers and journal with you so that I can see them? I might be able to at least figure out what type of cipher we're dealing with."

Vinny opened his satchel, taking out the papers, and handing them to me. Looking through the notes, it seemed that there was only cipher that seemed to make sense for the encryption of this text.

"It's an Ottendorf Cipher." I told them plainly, handing back the papers and journal.

"And that is?" Audrey asked.

"Can I get one of the papers back?" I asked Vinny, who nodded and handed me one of the papers, I held up the paper and started to explain, "Each one of the three numbers corresponds to a word and a key in a book, newspaper article, letter, and so on. The first number is the page number in the key text, the second number is line on the page, and the third number is the letter in the line." I explained, handing Vinny back the paper, "Find any books or anything in the lab? Without the key, these are pretty useless."

"No." Vinny shook his head.

"You don't remember-"

"I was eight when they died." I cut her off, "No, I'm not going to remember things like books he read. We'll figure it out when we get back, we have to keep focused on the mission ahead. Get some sleep, everyone, tomorrow will be a long day."

Audrey nodded and then she and Mole left. Vinny stayed behind, moving next to me, leaning against the desk. After a few awkward moments of silence, Vinny spoke up, "It's a book; the key to the cipher is a book. We found the passage through the lab, one of the books was a latch and it opened secret door hidden in the fireplace. We gave up trying to get through the other entrance and started looking for alternate ways inside. I had a feeling if your father had been anything like you, he'd put an entrance in the library."

"Out of all of the clichés…" I shook my head, "What was the book?"

"A hollowed out copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales."

I looked at him with a slight smirk, "I'm betting if can get a copy of the anthology, we can decode those papers and the journal now."

"Then what are we waiting for?" He stepped away from the desk.

"You remember what the copy of book looked like?"

Vinny nodded.

"Then let's see if we can find it." I smiled and we headed to the library.

**Vinny's POV**

We searched the library for the next four hours top to bottom to no avail. While Professor Whitmore had Grimm's Fairy Tales, he didn't have the specific copy we had been searching for.

"Why don't we call it a night?" I suggested, "We can always look for the book later. It'll be easier now that we know what it looks like."

"You know, you don't have to help find the book." She replied, "I believe Mole had you and Audrey help get into the laboratory."

"He asked us to work with the inventions too and I'll need the decoded notes to do that." I countered, "So it doesn't look like you'll be getting rid of me that easily, especially when I have more reasons than an invitation from Mole to stick around."

"Well, you won't hear any complaints from me."

"I probably will and I'm okay with that." I replied, "As long as you're okay with me staying."

"I think I'd be alright with that."


	21. As If Nothing Had Changed

**Chapter Twenty-One: As If Nothing Had Changed**

**Tia's POV**

_"Chrissy…" I heard my brother, Michael, call, "Where are you? What's going on?"_

_"I don't know." I called back to him, "Go find Mother and Father, they'll get you somewhere safe." I told him before running towards the smoke. I needed to find where it was coming from, I needed to know it wasn't me. That I didn't start this. _

_"Chrissy!" Michael cried and coughed. I stopped and turned, looking back towards where Michael was. I could get us both out if I moved fast enough. I ran back towards Michael._

_"Michael!" I called back to him, "If you can hear me, come towards my voice! We need to get out of here!" There was no answer. I tried again, "Michael!" Still no answer. I tried again._

"Michael!" I jolted awake. A wave of guilt washed over me as it normally does when these memories resurface. "I am so sorry, Michael…" I whispered, "I know it's my fault you're gone. I should have been looking out for you."

This was why I avoided sleeping. There were too many memories, too many regrets, that would come back every time I managed to fall asleep. Knowing I would be up for the remainder of the evening, I headed back to the library, pulled a book from one of the shelves, and started to read.

"Thought you were going to bed." I heard someone comment, I didn't have to look to know it was Vinny.

"What about you?"

"My room is next to someone who has night terrors." He responded, "It's easier to stay awake and nap later instead of trying to sleep through the screaming."

"Where is your room?" I looked up at him.

"It's the one right on the corner wall next to yours."

"I keep you awake." I acknowledged, "If you want to try to sleep, I won't be heading back to my room tonight."

Instead, Vinny asked, "Who's Michael?"

"My brother, he was four when he died." I answered, "I pushed him away when he was alive and didn't go after him when I should have before he died. I was so focused on myself that I didn't think about him until it was too late."

"You were nine."

"I was old enough to know better."

"You were just a kid." Vinny responded, sitting down next to me, "And even if you had gone after your brother, there's a chance you could have died with the rest of them."

"I could have." I nodded, "But at least I wouldn't have abandoned him. I ignored him when he need me and there's nothing I can do about it. You can't change the past."

"You can't." Vinny agreed, "But you're doing a pretty good job about changing the future. Where'd you come up with the idea of the Society?"

"I was trying to figure out what to do next after everything happened and I ran across someone who needed help, so I did. Then one led to another, and then another, and soon I was receiving messages of different situations that could use some help. Slowly, the letters started to poor in and I decided with a little help of the people I had met along the way, including Mole, to create a base of operations."

"Ember Hollow."

"The manor was my old family home."

"You know the locals have been calling it Phantom Manor." Vinny said, "They say it's haunted."

I nodded, "I started that rumor so that people would leave it alone when we're gone. The whole place is set up with its own security of different illusions and alchemy to scare off anyone who doesn't belong."

"How haven't we seen that?"

I shrugged, "It's mostly mechanical and it'd be a little annoying if we kept it on all of the time."

"You'll have to show me how it works."

"If we make it out alive, I will."

"If?"

"This mission is a little dangerous." I responded, "That reminds me…" I stood and went over the bookcase closest to the door, pulled down books on mythical monsters, witchcraft, and demonology, and set them on the table. "I need to pack these, I left my copies back home."

Vinny looked through the titles, "You want to tell me what it going on? Nowhere in the description I heard did it involve magic and demons."

"And it might not, just want to be on the safe side." I told him, "You never know with some of these cases."

"Have you ever dealt with anything like that?"

With some hesitation, I responded, "…No." Was it the truth? Not quite, but I wasn't going to tell him more than what he needed to know.

"That's not true." He caught me instantly, which was to be expected, it wasn't the best lie. "What have you been up to?"

I shrugged again, "Just trying to save the world, one person at a time. I may not be able help everyone, but with every little thing I or anyone in the Society does to help one person, it affects not only them, but everyone around them. Every choice made has a ripple effect and maybe-"

"Your kindness will rub off on someone else."

"I'm not always that nice, not everyone deserves that respect." I quipped, "I'm too smart for that."

"You're too smart for a lot of things you do."

"I'd have nothing to do if I didn't and how dull my life would be if I did." I responded and then went back to the topic at hand, "What I meant to say is maybe my choices will lead to the next right thing for this situation at hand. Not good, not bad, but right."

He nodded and then looked back to the books, "Do you practice-"

"No, wouldn't know where to start if I tried." I responded, knowing he was referring to the book on witchcraft, "But it has helpful information on how I can protect myself on what we're possibly up against."

"Mind sharing with the rest of us."

"I will after I'm sure it works." I replied, "Why waste your time if it doesn't?"

"I wouldn't find it a waste."

"I would if it didn't work."

"Why do you think it wouldn't?"

"I'm not fully sure of what we are up against and until I do-"

"You're not going to say anything." Vinny said, "From everything I know of you, you won't say a word until you're sure you know what you're talking about. You're the quietest person in the room till someone mentions something you have interest in."

"I am not a social woman." I remarked the words he had said to me all those years ago. How were we still like this? Here we were as if nothing had changed. As if all those years hadn't gone by. If we hadn't had that fight after we came back. If we hadn't spent that time apart. And if I could go back, we wouldn't have or at least not as much time as we did. Although if I hadn't, would I have what I do? That's hard to say. Unfortunately, there is no way to see how things would have turned out if things would have turned out differently. We just had to face our current situation and see where it led us to next.

"Miss Whitmore, a transmission has just come in." Branson stated as he entered the library, "There has been another incident off the coast of Norway, they're requesting an immediate response."

Apparently, the situation is leading me next to Norway.

"Thank you, Branson." I nodded, and then stood, "Can you prepare the car?"

"Yes, miss."

"Also Branson, send them a response letting them know that there is someone coming to review the situation and that more help will be on the way soon."

"Of course." He nodded, and then left.

"Seems I'll be heading to Norway." I told Vinny, picking up my books, "Enjoy Atlantis, I'll see you soon."

"You're going by yourself?" Vinny objected.

"Don't worry, I know how to handle myself." I assured, "I got you out of a Turkish prison by myself, didn't I?"

With that I left to go get my bags so that Branson could take me to the docks.


	22. Reconnecting

**Chapter Twenty Two: Reconnecting **

**Vinny's POV**

The trip down to Atlantis, while almost as long as the time before, was much easier. Tia's absence was felt, I had been the only one who knew before we shipped off that she had left. Mr. Whitmore and Mole were the only ones who weren't surprised, Whitmore merely shaking his head at the news and Mole saying **_'Elle pense qu'elle peut sauver le monde'_** before adding _'She'll be fine, she's done this before.'_ While it was not shocking that Tia had gone on her own in the potentially dangerous situations, it was still concerning. She was not the same woman that she was when she found me in Turkey or even the same one when we left for Atlantis, there was more for her to lose if something were to happen. There was nothing we could do about it, if she were, until we reached Norway. I just had to trust she had everything handled.

**Tia's POV**

It had been a while since I had been back to Norway. Even as gloomy and downtrodden as this seaside town was, there was still some beauty still left in it. The people, the few who were left, were still as friendly as I remembered them to be, except for the mayor. He did not like the fact that I was there and he wanted me gone. Not that I heeded him; if I had had listened to every uncomfortable person who wanted me out of their town, I wouldn't have a business. However, as time went on and I tried to research, I was left with no results. There had been no archives or history of the town. No one wanted to talk, especially not to me. It was like they had been silenced. The few who did speak were gone shortly after. There was a dark presence looming over the village, which had seemed more supernatural than a monster and it had something to do with cantankerous old mayor. One thing left me questioning, however. What happened to the people reaching out? There was one person who I hadn't spoken to yet, the inn keeper. Although at this point, I was unsure if I should speak with her. What good would it do if she disappeared too? At this point, I was left with nothing else to do until the others arrived. Maybe it would have been better if I had waited to come with the others. There was nothing I could do about it now.

Sighing, I reached over to my book on the nightstand. Might as well distract myself with the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, it was better than trying to sleep.

**Milo's POV**

"Wait, what?" I interrupted Audrey, she had been filling me in on everything that had transpired in the past few years before we headed into dinner. "Tia's working with Mole?"

"And she has a kid." Audrey added.

Unable to hide my confusion and slight disgust, I questioned, "With Mole?"

"No, with Vinny." She responded. That made more sense, at least they finally together.

"I'm glad they got together."

Audrey shook her head and then proceeded to tell me what she knew of what had happened between the two of them. I shook my head, nothing had ever seemed easy between the two of them.

"And they just got back on speaking terms with each other." Audrey finished, "Outside of that, you haven't missed too much."

That had been a confusing understatement, how did it get like this? What had made her leave in the first place? There was something that had been missing from Audrey's account of the events. How did it go from a party to her disappearing and then coming back with a kid? I made a note to talk to Tia about what had happened. She had been in love with him for so many years, what changed? Why'd she leave?

Soon we were told the food was prepared and we were called to join dinner with the others.

"Your grandfather would be proud of you, Milo." Mr. Whitmore told me shortly after we sat down to dinner, "Not only did you find a lost empire, you probably saved the world from Rourke's plans for the crystal, and now you're helping restore Atlantis to its former glory. That's quite a resume for a cartographer."

"I just wish he could be here to see all this," I smiled, "And to meet Kida." I added placing my hand on hers, staring deep into her eyes. Remembering there were other people around us, I changed the topic to the slight elephant in the room: Why they were there. Not that I wasn't happy to see them, but after so many years, why would they show up now? If it were for a reunion, which I doubt, Tia would have been here and they would have said that by now.

Mr. Whitmore's face fell before he answered with a sigh, "I'm afraid you're right, there's trouble on the surface. Already have my doctor, digger, demolition expert, mechanic; each the top of their field."

"Where's your linguist?" I asked about Tia.

"She's there trying to figure out what's going on." Mr. Whitmore answered and then got to the point of where he was originally getting to, "I came here for the one expert I didn't have: an expert on Atlantis."

"But why would you need-"

"Several cargo ships have gone down in the North Atlantic, the survivors say it was a sea monster." Mr. Whitmore explained.

"We thought it might be your watch dog at the front door." Sweet added.

"The leviathan?" Kida questioned.

"Right, that's one big sea monster." Vinny said, "In the water, that's the last thing you want to see. Except maybe my Aunt Rose in a swimsuit; sweet woman, but very large boned."

"I'm glad it knew we were friends this time." Audrey stated.

"But there could be other's out there." Kida stood, "My father had many such machines created. He used to magic and powers of the crystal to expand the boarders of Atlantis. That war nearly destroyed the world."

"Well it looks like his war may not be over."

"Then Milo and I will go with you to the surface and end it." Kida stated. I tried to talk her out of it, she couldn't leave. She was the queen, she was supposed to oversee restoration. It was one thing for me to go, I wasn't quite as needed as she was. However, her mind was made up, noting that the repairs were well underway and that the counselors could tend to the everyday matters. She wanted to go up because she had felt guilty for her father's decisions and wanted to understand them.

**Vinny's POV**

It wasn't too long after Milo and Kida agreed to come with us that we all dispersed. Most went to explore the city while they could while Packard and I tried to get a hold of Tia to get an update of what was going on and to let her know we were heading out that way. After a half an hour, we were able to get to her.

_**"I don't know how much help we're really going to be here, no one's talking and the one's that end up saying something disappear. It's creepy. This whole town has this eerie feeling to it. I don't know what's going on here, but there's something wrong here. I shouldn't have left on my own. The ma-"**_

Before she could finish her warning, the connection cut off.

"I don't think we're going to be able to get her again." Packard told me, "There's connection's dead. I'm surprised we were able to get to her."

I shook my head, "Someone should have gone with her."

"Why didn't you?"

"It's complicated."

"It's not as complicated as you make it." Packard stood and left.

The next morning we headed out to board the ship to go meet up with Tia in Norway.


	23. The Magistrate's Deal with the Devil

**Chapter Twenty-Three: The Magistrate's Deal with the Devil**

"Two weeks we crisscross the North Sea and got nothing." I commented to Audrey as she worked on one of the sub pods, "No squids, no jellyfish, and no lobster from Atlantis."

"We have to be sure, Vinny." Milo said. I didn't fully disagree, but I didn't see a point in continuing if we already knew there was something going on somewhere else. We've had no signs of any sea monsters, it was like we were wasting our time.

"What if raising the crystal brought this leviathan to life?" Kida suggested, "This could all be the fault of Atlantis."

"I'd worry more about who to fight it than who's to blame." Audrey responded, hitting the missiles with the wrench as she spoke, "Last time we shot at the leviathan these things didn't even tickle it."

"Audrey, if you keep hitting that we're going to be tickled all over these walls." I warned her.

"Yeah, yeah, like I don't know that." She retorted, hitting them again with the wrench.

"Well, careful, now that Sweet's not here to glue us back together." I told her, before telling her about the blend in the missiles that I had been given the opportunity to put together. "Let the lobster chew on that." I added.

"You know I don't think it is a leviathan." Milo commented, "The survivors called it the Kraken: a legendary Norwegian sea monster with arms a quarter mile long. Nothing like we saw in Atlantis."

"But Atlantean inventors always based their designs on real animals, like the giant squid." Kida responded, "It may not be a leviathan, but it still may be an Atlantean war machine."

_'Or it may not have anything to do with Atlantis at all.'_ I thought, knowing it would be best to keep quiet about that opinion.

"She's right." Mole agreed, which had been slightly surprising given his work as of late. He had seen more than any of us, from the few things I've gathered of what I've heard, about the mysterious things that are in this world. "No creature of flesh and blood can bring down a steel cargo ship." He added and then the ship started to rock.

"Something's got the ship!" Audrey exclaimed.

"It's ripping open the launch doors!" Milo added.

It wasn't too long before one of the kraken's arms reached inside.

"Get to the sub pods!" Milo exclaimed, before adding to me, "Vinny, we're going to need that thing out of the way."

"Coming up, extra oregano." I threw a grenade at the monster before heading into a sub pod.

Unsurprisingly, the sub pod that Audrey had been working on, which she had kept hitting malfunctioned with Milo, Kida, and their pet inside.

As we pulled their pod up, I could hear Kida say over their intercom, "At least it wasn't Atlantean."

When we got to the surface, Milo let the captain know we were fine and to take care of the ship before getting out of his sub pod. After he, Kida, and their pet were out the pod sunk.

"That's your sub pod, that's not coming out of my paycheck." Audrey commented.

"Okay, let's get to shore as soon as we can." I told them.

"What's the matter, Vinny?" Audrey questioned, "Afraid to play patty cake with the sea monster?"

I shook my head, "No, I don't mind a little patty cake, but I don't really want to be here when the bombs on that sub pod hit bottom." I told them as I closed the door to my sub pod.

**Tia's POV**

_'This is hopeless.'_ I thought as I questioned my decision to continue to walk around the town looking for clues about what was going on. It wasn't like I could ask anyone about the strange happenings here. The only one who would talk to me was the magistrate, who would only tell me to leave.

"Not real friendly are they…" I heard someone say in the distance.

_'That sounds like Milo.'_ I thought before laughing off the idea, that wasn't possible. I sighed not wanting to contemplate the potential that this place was driving me crazy to the point I was hearing things. And then I heard another voice, one of disgust, "What is that smell? It's like rotting fish." It had been Audrey.

And then another, "Why do you accuse such a thing?! I have bathed! Recently…"

It had been Mole.

"Oh good, I'm not going crazy." I sighed in relief, before following the voices. Eventually I found myself behind them.

"Milo, we've got company." Vinny signaled to Milo as the magistrate came up to them.

"I am Edgar Volgud, the magistrate of this town." He introduced himself, "What is your business here?"

Milo tried to greet him, but Edgar cut him off. He didn't care what they had been here for. He already had been dealing with me refusing to leave, I doubt he wanted more people poking their heads around here. Kida tried to question him, but refused to answer her outside of telling her to go to the next town over, Trondheim. Milo insisted they'd stay to enjoy the scenery, which was also met with a response to go to Trondheim.

"You might as well hold your breath, Mr. Volgud." I spoke up, getting bored with the back and forth, "You have as much as a chance getting them to leave as you've had me."

Edgar looked past Milo, Kida, and the others towards me, narrowing his eyes at the sight of me. I smirked lightly, "What? Did you miss me? I mean it's been a day since you told me to leave town. Here's the thing, I'm still here. I doubt you're going to be able to convince them, if you can't convince me."

"You all would be better suited in Trondheim." He seethed.

"All the same, we'll stay." Milo replied.

"Ms. Eliassen is the innkeeper here, she'll give you rooms for the night." He gestured to the inn before turning, "A driver will take you to Trondheim tomorrow." He then walked away.

"I've seen that fella before some place." Vinny commented as we all headed inside, "I believe under a rock, reminds me of a leech, a worm, kind of a salamander-ish."

"He's something to say the least." I agreed with him as a purple thing ran past us, knocking Mole down, "What was that?" I asked, helping Mole up.

"That's Mole and Kida's pet." Vinny answered as we watched it snuggle up in the fire, he then changed the subject, "How have you been?"

"Alright." I responded after a moment, he raised an eyebrow. "It's been a very peculiar past several weeks."

"I'm not surprised," Vinny replied, "There's something off about that Volgud guy."

"Wasn't Volgud that statue guy?" Audrey asked.

"That would mean he's even older than he looks." Milo responded, "And I'd say he's pretty darn old."

"They say he made a deal with the devil to live forever, but forgot to ask for eternal youth." Inger commented, "This will drive the fog from your bones."

"Thank you, Ms. Eliassen." Milo told her, taking a cup. The others took theirs.

"Thank you, Inger." I thanked her for the tea.

"There is a darkness around, Edgar Volgud." Inger continued, "And that shadow has dimmed all that was happy here. We would leave, but this inn is all we have. It is no place for me to raise my little one."

I looked at Vinny, "Speaking of little ones, where's Olivia?"

"At the Whitmore estate with Branson." He answered, "Your grandfather left it up to me whether she was coming or not and I told her no."

"I'm sure she was thrilled." I replied sarcastically.

"If I remember correctly, her exact words were 'Mother would have let me come.'"

"That's not true." I responded.

"To a point." Mole corrected, "We've had to bring her with us for a few."

"I will prepare rooms for you." Inger told them, heading up the stairs, "But do not cross Edgar Volgud and leave as soon as you can."

"They gotta work on their tourism industry." Vinny commented.

"It could be worse." I responded, and then added, "I wouldn't hold my breath for that driver by the way, Volgud told me that when I first arrived here. Still no driver."

"Well that gives us time to figure out what's going on." Milo said.

"I wouldn't count on that."

"What do you mean?" Audrey asked, "That's the whole reason you've been here."

"That's a little difficult when no one will talk to you." I retorted.

"So what have you been doing this whole time?" She questioned.

"Not much." I replied honestly, "Trying to figure out things on my own, but mostly reading. Been catching up on Greek and Norwegian mythology."

"I understand reading through Norwegian mythology given the monster we're up against, "Milo responded, "But why Greek?"

"It's entertaining." I answered.

"Good to see you haven't changed." Milo smiled softly.

"Not in that regard, no."

"So, let me get this straight," Audrey interjected, still annoyed "this whole time, you've been here reading?"

"It's called research." I responded, "And no, I tried talking to people, no one would and the ones who did were helpful until they started disappearing."

"What'd you find out?" Vinny asked.

"Basically what Inger just told us."


	24. Following the Lights

**Chapter Twenty-Four: Following the Lights**

After sunset, we decided to explore a little to get more information about what was going on. It wasn't too long before we came across Volgud.

"C'mon, just follow his lantern." Milo said to us in a hushed tone to Volgud wouldn't hear. We followed after him.

First came the noises, which had caused Audrey, Kida, and Milo to go on edge. They had been eerie, but not new. I remember hearing them when I had gone out a few nights ago. Knowing the sounds would not lead to anything good, I chose not to follow them when I was on my own.

"It is not of this earth..." Mole commented.

"That'd be nothing new for us." I responded nonchalantly.

"No, that's a bird, a very big, goony bird." Vinny tried to rationalize, "Or a possum with a very upset stomach."

"No, it's voices." Milo replied.

"So, the sea monster talks." I shrugged, "That could be interesting."

Then Audrey and Mole realized had disappeared.

"We could be walking in circles." Milo sighed, "We'd better head back to the village."

"And which way would that be?" Audrey questioned.

"Tia, any ideas?" Milo asked.

I shook my head, "Not with this fog."

After hearing I couldn't lead them back to the village, Milo proposed we follow the lights. When I tried to protest us following mysterious lights that weren't seen in the village previously and backtrack instead, no one would listen. After trying a couple of times, I just gave up. We'd find out soon enough what we were headed into.

"Just a moment, listen to the gravel." Mole spoke up after a while, I stopped in my tracks and watched the scene play out before me. I knew once Mole started speaking up I had been right.

"Not now, Mole." Audrey told him.

"But this is decomposed granite, which would mean we are headed for the cliffs." He said before falling from the cliff with everyone else while me and the lava dog watched.

"You all okay?" I called after them. Mole called back saying that they were fine and Milo was going to get Audrey who had slid down further than they had. Once they all climbed back up, we found our way back to the village.

"How'd you know not to follow the lights?" Milo asked me as we made our way back to the inn.

"I've done some research on hocus pocus." I responded lightly.

As we headed into the inn, we heard Volgud talking to Inger, "Gather the possessions of the strangers and burn them."

"You know, I'd kind of like to keep my stuff." I told him, crossing my arms.

Volgud looked back at us as the lava dog growled at him.

"What's the matter Volgud?" Vinny asked, "You think we've got fleas?"

"Gee, you seem surprised to see us." Milo commented.

Volgud left without saying a word.

"Definitely worm or leech, salamanders are too cute." Vinny commented.

"We'd like to hear more about Volgud's deal with the devil." Milo told Inger.

"It is an old wives story, a folk tale, nothing more." Inger responded shaken.

"Inger, we want to help." Milo pressed, "Lives have been taken at sea and I suspect in this town."

"Everyone I spoke to disappeared, Inger." I added, "I don't think this is going to let up anytime soon. If we don't do anything, things could get worse."

"I would love to let my little one play outside again." Inger sighed, before saying, "Long ago, the fish left the sea. The town was in danger of dying; a bargain was struck: the souls of the people for the life of the town."

"The Kraken…" Mole gasped.

"Also known as the devil fish." Milo commented.

"The town is provided for, but no one can leave." Inger continued, "And the sun has not shown since."


	25. Just a Bunch of Hocus Pocus

**Chapter Twenty-Five: Just a Bunch of Hocus Pocus**

The following morning, we made our way to the beach to explore the area.

"Folklore or not, there is a connection between the Kraken and this town." Milo commented.

"Volgud hands out food and supplies from somewhere." Kida spoke up, "Maybe a hidden cave."

"I could search." Vinny suggested, "It would make a very nice boom."

"Which would draw a lot of attention." I replied.

Mole laughed, "The answer is staring at you right in the face." He then went talk about how a boulder was being disguised as part of the cliff and then moved to pull a lever hidden by another rock formation.

"They look exactly the same to me." Kida commented in surprise.

"Yeah, but you weren't raised by naked mole rats." Audrey told her as the others passed her.

"It can take a little getting used to." I said to Kida as we followed behind the others, "You'll get to a point where this type of stuff doesn't faze you anymore. I should know, I've been working with him for the past five years. The naked mole rat thing isn't exactly true though, he grew up exploring sewers, catacombs, and caves. He actually had a job as a technical advisor for a mining company for years until my Grandfather hired him."

"That would explain so much." Kida responded.

As we made our way through the cave, we started to see boxes, crates, and people. Everyone who had disappeared from the town along with the people who had missing from the cargo ships were here.

"This is all from the sunken freighter." Mole commented and then Kida spotted Volgud. He had been standing by the water, watching as the kraken's tentacles rose to the surface.

"Volgud is controlling the kraken." Milo gasped.

"How table scraps and a rolled up newspaper?" Audrey questioned sarcastically.

"He's not using table scraps." Vinny told them, which was true, it had been more of the hypnotic trance. Milo's theory had been that he used it to tell kraken where to go and which ships to attack. He had been so engrossed in tell all of us what to do, he didn't notice Audrey was not with us. She had fallen under the monster's trance. Seeing that they were all caught up in the moment, I tried to go after Audrey.

As she started to walk into the water, I pulled at her arm, "Audrey, snap out of it." I hissed at her, trying to draw as little attention to myself as possible. She shook me off and continued walking. I tried circling around to her to push her back and then I noticed her eyes, they were glowing green. "That's not good…" I backed away from her, she had been under the kraken's spell. "Um, guys I think we could use your help over here." I called to the others as one of the kraken's tentacles wrapped around Audrey.

"Get Audrey, I'll distract him." Milo told us.

As we tried to fight the monster and the hypnotized people, it became pretty evident that it wasn't helping anything. Milo had knocked out Volgud and nothing had happened. The most we had gotten was thrown around.

"Alright, time for plan b." Vinny lit a stick of dynamite, "Plan bomb."

Mole stopped him before he threw it, "No, not at the creature, at the ceiling." He pointed.

"How about picking the target before I light the dynamite?" Vinny responded before throwing the dynamite. Rocks came crashing down on to the kraken and it let go of Audrey. Milo and Kida got Audrey and we headed to the sub pods to stop the kraken from getting out.

When we got the sub pods, we each separated into groups of two. Milo and Kida took one, Vinny and Mole took another, and Audrey and I took the last one.

_**"Talk to me, Mole."**_ Milo said over the intercom, _**"Gotta find that cave exit. The only chance we have to stop the kraken is to trap him inside. Audrey, you doin' alright?"**_

"Yeah, now." Audrey grimaced, "It was creepy, all cold and slimy. Everything faded away like I was drowning."

"You're okay now though, right?" I asked and she nodded in reply. "Remind me later, I may have something that can help you from that happening again or at least ward it off."

_**"Hey, pay attention."**_ I heard Mole say to Vinny, before adding, _**"It is too dark to see, fire the magnesium flares."**_ Vinny did as Mole instructed

_**"What are you doing?"**_ Milo asked them incredulously, **_"We want to sneak up on-"_**

"Milo, look in front of you!" I cut him off, seeing the monster in front of us.

_**"Jiminy Christmas!"**_Milo exclaimed, "It's already out." As we got closer to it, he added, **_"Stay clear of the tentacles."_**

"You think?" I replied.

"Ha, no kidding." Audrey said in agreement, and then told them, "We're going to take a shot." We maneuvered our pod through its tentacles, trying to go for a shot to hit it, but only hitting the wall. "It's no good, can't line up a decent shot."

"We've still got a few more rounds." I responded, "We can try another tactic."

_**"We're on him."**_ Milo responded, but when they tried to fire their missile, they were hit by one of the tentacles.

"You think it's weird we haven't heard anything from Mole and Vinny in a while?" I asked Audrey.

She shrugged, "Maybe they turned off their intercom."

"Maybe…" I replied, and then I noticed something coming towards us, "Um, Audrey, we need to move."

"Why?" She asked, I nodded to her side at the missile heading right towards us. We quickly maneuvered out of the way.

"What was that?!" I retorted to Mole and Vinny if they could hear me.

"Shoot at the squid, not us!" Audrey yelled at them.

_**"Vincent has gone mad!"**_Mole exclaimed coming back on to the intercom, _**"His mind is all blank!"**_

**_"But Volgud?"_** Milo questioned.

_**"It's not Volgud, it's the kraken."**_Kida told him.

"Of course, the kraken is the one with the mind powers." Audrey said in agreement.

"Hey Mole, you might want to knock out Vinny." I suggested, "It might help with the mind control."

Not too long after the suggestion, a bang was heard over the intercom. Mole then came on and said, _**"It is okay, I have distracted him."**_

We started to steer our sub pods back to the beach to regroup, seeing that we were running out of ammunition. As we passed by a sunken sub pod, Vinny and Mole's pod quickly turned around.

"Are you crazy?!" Audrey yelled at them.

"No, I think they have the right idea." I told her, pointing to the missiles on the sub pod.

_**"It's Milo's sub pod, it's got a full load of torpedoes."**_ Vinny responded, **_"We can blow the whole thing at once." _**

**_"Let's do it!"_** Milo said in agreement.

We all turned around and each fired at the sub pod, blowing it up, which in turn destroyed the kraken.

_**"You know I think Mr. Squid was a bit hocus pocus, myself."**_Vinny commented as we started to head back to the beach.

When we pulled back up to the beach, we secured our sub pods and headed back up to the village. It had still been dark when we headed up, most likely past midnight. We headed back to the inn to get some sleep.

"You okay?" I asked Vinny as we headed to our rooms.

"Got a bit of a headache but otherwise, I'm fine." He replied.

"Well, I did tell Mole to try to knock you out." I replied sheepishly.

"Try?" He raised an eyebrow, "I don't remember you using try in that sentence."

"Well, you did fire torpedoes at us." I reminded, "Even if it were due to some hocus pocus."

"You didn't seem too fazed by that."

"It's not the first time I've seen something like that." I replied as we reached my door, "Goodnight, Vinny."

"Night, Tia."

The next morning, it was like we had found ourselves in another town. The fog had lifted and the sun had been shinning. The statue of Volgud had been torn down and the villagers were interacting with one another.

"Oh yeah, you won't find the kraken in any biology book." Milo commented. Kida added on about how things were different now that the curse had been lifted.

"So if something stinks now…" Vinny added.

"That'll be remedied once I get him back on his regimented schedule." I spoke up, "If he wants to come home then I'm not dealing with the smell or his lack of hygiene and he knows that."

"How'd you get him to agree to that?" Vinny asked.

"I gave him a job, shelter, and food." I answered, and then changed the subject, "So what do we do now?"

"I'm guessing we go to Trondheim, that's where the ship's being repaired." He responded.

"You think the repairs will be done?"

He nodded, "There wasn't much to repair; it was minor damage."

"That's good."

"You're ready to go back."

I nodded, "I'm ready to go home."


	26. Conversations of Wine and Snow

**Chapter Twenty-Six: Conversations of Wine and Snow**

When we reached Trondheim, the ship's repairs had been nearly completed. This had set us back by a couple of weeks, but gave us time to explore the city. Once the repairs were complete, we boarded the ship and headed back home. Most days I spent in the galley since it had been the quietest room on the ship.

"So this is where you hide out every night." Milo said as he came into the galley, I set down my copy of Jane Eyre to give him my full attention, "I've been looking for you everywhere, I was hoping we could catch up. We haven't really had much time to talk since I got to the surface."

"We haven't." I acknowledged, and then asked, "So what's it been like living in Atlantis? Is it jarring coming back after five years of being down there?" These brief questions lead us down the rabbit hole of a several hour conversation. He had talked about the reconstruction of Atlantis and his relationship with Kida and I told him about the reconstruction of my childhood home and Ember Hollow and the Rescue Aid Society and the missions I had been on. Then Milo brought up the one topic I had been avoiding:

"What happened between you and Vinny?"

"You want something to drink?" I asked him in return, and then clarified, "I'm not changing the subject; it's just a story that's better told over a drink."

"I don't really drink." He reminded, "But if there's any wine, I'll indulge in a glass."

After searching the cabinets, I found a couple of bottles, "Red or white?"

"Depends, where are they from?

"They're French."

"Red." He responded. I poured myself a glass of the white and poured him a glass of the red, and then sat down. I took a sip from my glass and then went into the story of what had happened after we came back from Atlantis, why I left, Olivia, and how I got back in contact with Vinny. Most of it being a very long winded story about how I overreacted and let my pride get in the way. After I was finished, Milo had been quiet for a while before asking, "How are things now?"

I shrugged, "I think we're still figuring things out. We started working together on something in Ember Hollow and we're both working with my grandfather. We've talked here and there outside of that. I don't know where things are headed, but I can't say my feelings have really changed. At this point, I only regret letting my anger get in the way and not hearing him out when he was trying to explain. Things might have turned out differently if I had."

After a few weeks, we found ourselves back in Washington D.C. to be met with a blizzard. It was a bit of a heavy storm for December, but not too surprising given it was winter.

"Ugh, I hate snow." I groaned, tugging my jacket closer.

"Why would you hate this?" Kida asked in confusion, "This is wonderful."

I sighed and did my best to remind myself she probably had never experienced snow given where she was from before replying, "I've just never liked it." I did know why, but it had not been worth going into especially with someone so new to it. Just because I can't stand it and have bad memories attached to it, doesn't mean she has to dislike it.

After I got in the car with Mole and Vinny, Vinny asked, "So, is there a reason you don't like snow?"

"Bad experience with a nanny." I responded nonchalantly.

"Était-ce la nounou qui vous a laissé dans la neige ou celle qui vous a dit que le yéti était réel quand vous étiez au Népal?" Mole asked.

_(Was that the nanny who left you out in the snow or the one who told you the yeti was real when you were in Nepal?)_

"Both times were the same nanny." I responded and then said to Vinny, "Basically one of my nannies, who ended up quitting for no reason – I mean I did cut her hair a little and made her think doll of mine was possessed, both of which were hilarious, she had no sense of humor – and moving out of the country, decided a good punishment for a kid who would always run away from her was to leave that kid out in the snow and that was after she had already convinced the kid on a trip to Nepal that the Yeti exists and migrates throughout the year to different countries because it can't survive in warm climates."

"Was that before or after the doll possession?"

"Before." I answered, "The doll was revenge for being locked out in the snow. She was the last nanny I had. After she quit, my grandfather just had Branson look after me."

"Il aurait dû vous accompagner en tant que garde du corps pour le voyage à Atlantis." Mole responded, "Peut-être que les choses auraient mieux tourné."

_(He should have accompanied you as your bodyguard for the trip to Atlantis. Maybe things would have worked out better.)_

"Je n'aurais pas eu de temps seul." I reminded him. We had discussed this ad nauseam for the past few years among other things that concerned Vinny.

"Si vous voulez tous les deux continuer à parler en français, je préférerais que vous arrêtiez de basculer entre cela et l'anglais et de choisir l'un ou l'autre." Vinny told us to basically stop switching between the two and to pick a language to speak in, "C'est épuisant de basculer entre les deux."

"Since when do you speak French?" I stared at him in shock, he had understood the entire side conversation.

"You did mention I should learn." He responded. I looked down, hiding the small smile that found its way on to my face.


	27. An Inedible Dinner

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: An Inedible Dinner**

When we reached the estate, we were greeted by Branson who took our coats and informed us that dinner would be ready in an hour. Mole, Vinny, and the others were shown to the rooms they were staying in by a couple of the maids while I stayed behind to talk to Branson.

"Did Olivia behave?"

"About as much as you did as I child." He responded vaguely.

"Do I want to know?"

"I think it would be best if she told you herself." He responded, before handing me a stack of open letters, "You might want to have your business partners address the letters to Christina Whitmore instead of Miss Whitmore when they send mail here. Miss Olivia takes them, I managed to lift these ones off her hands."

"Thank you, Branson." I told him, "I'll have a discussion with her."

As I headed to my room, I read through the letters. Luckily, they were only updates on Peter from Will, which ranged from him imploring me to come back to him stating he had things handled for now. I set down the letters on my dresser and went to go find Olivia.

Like mother like daughter, the place I had found her was the first place I had looked: the library. She had Turn of the Screw open, ignoring the world as it passed around her.

"You know for how many things you have to read in here, I don't know why you'd choose to read my mail." I told her, "Or why you'd think it's okay to tell your father and grandfather that you could go on missions when you know I don't let you go unless there isn't another option."

"Am I in trouble?" She asked, setting down her book.

"No more than you usually are." I responded, "You shouldn't be reading my mail, the people who write to me are typically writing to me in confidence to help them."

"What does that mean?" She asked.

"It means they want to keep their letters to be a secret." I answered, "Which is why when their addressed to me, I should be the only one that opens them."

She mumbled a reluctant okay before Branson came to call us for dinner. I thanked him and told him we'd be in the dining room soon.

"A warning, Miss Christina." Branson said, "Your acquaintance, Mr. Farnsworth, has decided to prepare this evening's meal."

I grimaced and thanked him.

"What's that look for?" Olivia asked.

"Just thinking of the thought of dinner." I replied, she raised an eyebrow. "C'mon, let's go join the others. I'll make you something to eat later, don't touch whatever is put in front of you at the table."

"What?" She asked confused.

"C'mon." I outstretched my hand to her, she took it and we headed out of the library.

When we reached the dining room, everyone was already sitting down waiting for Cookie to come around with whatever concoction he had prepared for this evening. Cookie came out a few moments later with a bowl in one arm and a ladle in another, filling each bowl with brown slop.

"Please tell me that's not the same stuff you fed us on the way to Atlantis." Audrey spoke up pushing away her bowl.

"Bet your sweet eyes, it is." Cookie confirmed as he filled Vinny's bowl and came around to Packard's, "Now I told you, it would keep and keep and keep and now it's yours to eat and eat and eat."

"Cookie, that's five years old, if not older." I told him as he came around to me and Olivia. I covered each of our bowls with my hands so he would not fill them, "It's not edible."

He ignored me and went to fill Milo and Kida's bowls. Kida walked away shortly after and Milo followed after her. After a few awkward moments, Audrey spoke up, asking Vinny if he planned on going back to the flower shop now that the mystery with the kraken was solved. He went on to talk about what happened to the shop, which had been next to a Chinese laundry. Right before they left to retrieve Milo and Kida from Atlantis, he had went to check on the flower shop and there had been a gas leak in the shop due to the Chinese laundry.

"What are the chances of another gas leak in a Chinese Laundry?" He finished off the story, "So, that's my last flower shop, but I'm thinking about buying the laundry." Cookie then came back around and set another couple of bowls in front of him and Audrey, which they in turn gave to the lava dog. After a while, I let Olivia go back to the library, telling her I'd get her later for dinner, and we all broke out into our own conversations.

"Tia, are you and Olivia going back home?" Mole asked.

"Olivia and I will stay here through the holidays." I responded, and then looked over to Mole, "You going back down?"

He shrugged, "I'll probably go back in couple of days to check on William."

"That'd be good." I nodded, "With one of us there, he'd probably send less updates."

"You received those too?"

I rolled by eyes, "When you go down there, if you could have a talk with him about the constant unneeded updates, that'd be helpful. We're only supposed to be hearing things when there's an emergency."

"I'll talk to him." Mole responded.

"Excuse me." Packard spoke up. Mole and I looked at her. She repeated the phrase to get the others' attention. She then pulled her microphone to her and then rephrased her comment, "May I have your attention, please?" She pushed the microphone away, "That's better. That was Dr. Sweet, there's trouble in the southwest."

"Well, it looks like Will will have to wait." I told Mole, "Enjoy the southwest."

"You're not going?" Milo asked in surprise.

"No, I try not to go on trips back to back." I responded, "If I did, I'd have to either bring Olivia with me or barely see her. It's kind of a no win scenario when I do that, so I try to pick and choose the trips I go on. If I go on one, then I won't go on one or two after that. I've been trying to do a bit more clerical work and only going on expeditions when I'm either asked to go or when I'm needed. I'll probably go down to make sure everything is okay at home and then come back."

"I think I'll skip out on this trip too." Vinny commented. Confused, I tilted my head to look at him. However, he didn't say anything more. Milo then told Packard to reach back out to Sweet and let him know that Audrey, Mole, him, and Kida were heading down and would be there within the next few weeks.


	28. A Discussion Stemmed from Horror

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: A Discussion Stemmed from Horror**

After making dinner for Olivia and I, I put her to bed and flipped through the book she was reading. It had been a while, but the vague memories I had of the story were coming back.

"Maybe I should monitor what she reads…" I mumbled as put back the book.

"Looking for a book?"

I turned to face Vinny, "Putting one away, you?"

"Looking for one." He responded, "Any recommendations?"

"Depends are you looking for anything in particular?"

He shook his head, "No."

"Well, given the time of year, I'd probably recommend something in the horror genre."

"Why?"

"Tradition." I responded simply, when he looked at me oddly, I added, "I guess traditions are different for everyone, this time of year was always filled with ghost stories for my family. There's actually a lot of supernatural elements to Christmas, it's really rather interesting if you look into it." I stopped myself before going on a tangent, "But anyway, if you're not looking for horror, there's always science fiction…"

"What horror novels would you recommend?"

**Vinny's POV**

Truth be told, I wasn't looking for a book; I just wanted to talk to her. Books were always the easiest conversation starter and I usually enjoyed the books she'd recommend. This time she recommended Frankenstein, The Woman in White, A Christmas Carol, and a few other novels. With each one, she described the in full to the point where I really didn't have to read the book. Although, reading the books themselves was never as enjoyable as listening to her talk about them.

"Which one is your favorite?" I asked her.

She paused for a moment and then replied, "A Christmas Carol, I've always liked its messages about forgiveness and making peace with your past."

I looked at her blankly, debating whether or not to bring up the situation we had found ourselves in. We hadn't really discussed what had happened between us outside of the brief conversation we had after I had found out about Olivia and there wasn't much to that conversation. I didn't want to bring up what had happened, but if I didn't, would she? We had been avoiding the topic for months now. Deciding to bite the bullet, after a few moments of awkward silence, I spoke up, "Tia, we need talk about what happened between us."

"Do we?" She replied hesitantly.

Knowing this was a conversation neither of us wanted to have, I simply nodded and said, "Yeah."

She sighed, sitting down next to me, "Where do you want to start?"

I thought for a moment, not expecting her to ask that, and then answered, "I think we should start with the night you left."

"Okay."

"That wasn't the way I wanted you to find out."

"Why didn't you just tell me in Atlantis?" She asked, "You were telling me about Rourke and your business with him. Why not just tell me then? I probably would have taken it better then."

"Would you have?"

"Okay, not by much, but I probably would have let you explain your reasoning then." She responded, "Which you don't have to, I know if you hadn't agreed someone else would have been hired on or Grandfather would have had Branson go with me. There wasn't going to be a situation where I actually went on my own without someone looking after me. I was more upset about you lying to me, than what you did."

"I made that deal right after I met you and didn't think about it again until we left for Atlantis." I told her, "There wouldn't have been time to find anyone else and like you said earlier if Branson had come with you, you wouldn't have had any time alone."

"And as much as I like Branson, I do enjoy my alone time." She said, "I also wouldn't have gotten to know any of you the way I did." She then corrected herself, "I wouldn't have gotten to know you the way I did. We probably would have stayed the same way we were before we left, which would have been a shame."

"Why Mole?" I asked, "Why was he the first person you reached out to?"

"I knew I could trust him." She answered, "I also needed his skills."

"Has anything-" I started.

Seeing where I was going with my question, she spoke up, "Not in that way, he is my business partner and one of my closest friends, but I've never seen him like that."

"You were waiting for that question."

"I was." She laughed lightly, "It usually comes up whenever Mole or I talk about our work or friendship. You're not the first to ask. A single woman with a kid starting a business with a man whom she isn't married to isn't common."

"I was surprised you didn't start the business with Miss Corey."

"That wasn't what Anna wanted with her life, so I didn't want to ask that of her." She responded, "She also wouldn't have tried to talk me out of some of the things I was doing at the time and I didn't want to deal with that. I didn't want to be told I was wrong. Even though, after even I knew I was not fully in the right for what happened."

I remained quiet for a moment letting her words continue to sink in, that was not the route I thought this conversation would go. After gathering my thoughts, I pointed out, "You weren't wrong for what you did."

"I was for not telling you about Olivia." She pointed out, "I should have told you around the time I found out and I didn't."

"And I could have told you I was being paid to look after you." I pointed out, knowing it had been better to leave it at that. I should have told her before our relationship escalated. I shouldn't have let anything happen without telling her everything.

**Tia's POV**

I had to admit it would have been nice if I knew, things might have turned out differently. Although same could probably be said if I had told him about Olivia. Neither of us were completely in the right, but mine involved more than just the two of us. Because of my overreaction, he's missed out of the first five years of his daughter's life.

We sat in silence for the next few moments with one unanswered question looming: Where do we go from here?


	29. A Breakfast Proposal

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: A Breakfast Proposal **

The snow fell harder as the night pressed on. By the morning, the streets were covered and it was still snowing.

"So much for going down to Ember Hollow." I sighed, pushing myself up from the bench by the window, "At least, there's the radio."

I headed into the dining room where Packard had the radio set up. She had been sitting in there talking to her friend, Margie.

"Packard, do you mind if I use the radio?" I asked her, "I need to get a hold of one of my business partners back home."

"Margie, I'll call you back." Packard told her friend, and then said to me, "If you're talking about William, he called earlier this morning. Peter is doing fine and the house is still standing; there's a blizzard down there too."

Before I could respond, she added, "Your friend, Anna, called too. She was calling with an update on what's going on in the Southwest. I've already updated Milo." Packard then called Margie back.

"Oh okay, thank you…" I replied, walking away wondering what to do now.

"You look lost."

"Just figuring out what to do." I told Vinny, ignoring the brief feeling of déjà vu, "You're up early." I noted. From everything I knew of him in the years I've known him, I've never known him be a morning person.

"Couldn't sleep." He responded.

"I swear that's not on me." I told him quickly, "I don't sleep enough to keep you up."

"It wasn't you." He replied, "Although the not sleeping is concerning."

"It's being managed." I told him, "So what kept you up?"

"Dinner."

"You actually ended up eating that?" I retorted, referring to Cookie's dinner, "You know you could have had dinner with us."

"I do now." He said before changing the subject, "I thought you were going back home for a bit."

"Can't." I responded, "Storm's too bad, but I just got an update from Packard. They're fine, house is still standing."

"You'd be happier if you could see that for yourself." He noted.

"I would." I nodded, "But that's a little out of my control at this point. So, what are you up to?"

"I was going to get something to eat." He replied, "Would you like to join me?"

"Sure."

**Vinny's POV**

When we reached the kitchen it had been empty, which was exactly what I had been hoping for. I knew we wouldn't run into the kitchen staff, Mr. Whitmore had mentioned he had sent the majority of the house staff home for the holidays when it had started to snow. The only who would have been into the kitchen would have been Cookie and luckily he had still been asleep.

"Anything specific you're in the mood for?" I asked her.

"I don't know." She responded, "What were you thinking?"

"It depends on what's available." I answered, checking the ice box and pantry to see what was available to get an idea of what I can make before closing it.

"You cook?" She asked in surprise. I looked back at her, she had an impressed smile on her face.

"I do." I nodded with a small smile of my own, "Do you prefer coffee or tea?"

"Tea" She answered, and then added, "If you're making breakfast, I can make it. Do you want coffee?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

"Do you want something sweet or savory?" I asked her, still trying to think about what I was going to make. I knew I would most likely make something Turkish, it was merely a matter of what.

"It's up to you." She responded as she started both the coffee and tea. It hadn't been the most helpful answer, but it was the one I had to work with. I thought for a moment if there was anything specific I wanted or what I could remember that I made well while I had been living in Turkey before I had been arrested, eventually opting to make menemen. It had been simple enough to make, we had all of the ingredients, and fresh bread to pair it with.

After I finished preparing the food, I set down the plates on the counter in front of her. She looked down at the plate in curiosity, "Is this what I think it is?'

"It's menemen." I told her.

A wide excited smile graced her face, "I haven't had this in years, not since I went to Turkey…to retrieve you." She looked down as her face started to redden.

"It's been awhile since I've had it too." I responded, "I used to make it a lot while I was living in Turkey before I was arrested."

Her head shot up, "How long did you live there?"

"Before I was incarcerated?" I responded, "Three years."

"What were you doing there?"

"Nothing good." I responded, not particularly wanting to answer the question.

"Well, seeing as you were arrested for an explosion that killed four people and caused massive amounts of property damage while you employed by an Italian mob boss, I didn't think so." She commented, and then corrected herself "No, that was why you spent time in Delphi, you had been set up by your boss to take the fall and they ended up dying instead. You were then bailed out by a rival mafia family and taken into their employment to be arrested later in Turkey for destruction of property."

My jaw dropped in shock, "How did you know about that?"

"Your file…" She responded and then reluctantly added, "And Luca Addario."

Luca Addario had not been someone to find yourself around if you had wanted to keep your hands clean. He was in charge of one of the largest and most violent families in Milan. He was the last person I had wanted her to have any involvement with. Most who did wound up dead sooner or later.

"Tia…" I said, wanting her to explain.

She sighed, "I ran into him about two years ago. I was investigating a series of homicides that had been reported to us that the police in Milan had looked over."

Given he had the police in his back pocket that hadn't been surprising. It still hadn't answered how she had met him however. I pointed that out and she reluctantly continued, "My team and I wanted more information on what had been going on, so we decided one of us needed to go undercover. We quickly found Addario had a type."

He did, I had remembered that from when I had worked with him. He had a thing for brunettes.

"Tia, what did you do?" I asked her, hoping she would stop beating around the bush.

"I had dinner with him a few times, well more than a few, to distract him from the investigation my team had been doing and after a while our conversation drifted to you."

"Why?"

"I don't know, Vinny." She retorted frustrated, "Maybe it's because I've been in love with you for the past eight years and at that time it had been the longest I had gone without seeing you and he happened to know you-" She stopped as I pulled her closer to me, quickly noting the short distance between us. "Vinny…"

I knew what she was going to say, it was all over her face. If we acted upon this, there wasn't going to be any going back. There had been too history between us. I wanted nothing more than to be with her, to be a part of the family that's she had created with her and Olivia.

"Tia, marry me."


	30. An Unexpected Christmas Wish

**Chapter Thirty: An Unexpected Christmas Wish**

**Tia's POV**

I felt my heartbeat hasten as the words had started to sink in. Did he just- No, I couldn't have heard that right. The hopeful look he had on his face however proved me wrong.

"So what do you say?" He asked nervously.

After realizing he had been sitting there awkwardly without an answer for the past couple of minutes, I answered, "Yes. Yes, I will marry you." He then closed the gap between us with a kiss. After a few moments, I pulled away, taking his hand in mine and leading him out of the kitchen.

"Where are we going?" He asked curiously.

"Somewhere where we won't be disturbed." I answered, leading him down the hall and to my room. Once we entered my room, I closed the door behind us, locking it, and kissed him again. He snaked his arms around my waist as he deepened the kiss. My arms slipped around his neck as I felt myself being pushed against the door.

"Away from the door." I told him as he started to kiss down my neck. He murmured an 'okay' against my neck before lifting me up and carrying me to the bed.

**Preston B. Whitmore's POV**

The morning had been quiet for the most part. The only people who had been up were Tia, Vinny, and Packard. Although judging by the way Vinny and Tia looked when they had passed by my study, they would not be around others for a while.

"Grandfather, have you seen my mother?" Olivia asked as she came into my study.

"She's discussing business with your father, he may have some interest in going back to Ember Hollow with you both." I told her, it was easier and slightly more appropriate than telling her what they were mostly likely doing. "How about we get something to eat?"

"Okay." She agreed. I stood from my chair and we walked down to the kitchen. As we made our way down the hall she asked, "Why would my father want to come back with us to Ember Hollow?"

I looked down at her, telling her the truth, "Because he loves your mother and wants to be around you both."

"Then why wasn't he?" She asked as we made our way into the kitchen. By the looks of it, breakfast had already been prepared and it was still warm.

"Sit down, eat." I told her as I poured her a cup of tea, "I'm going to tell you a story."

"About what?"

"About your parents." I responded. Her eyes widened, I knew she had been told bits and pieces of this story. She knew about her father, but not really how everything came to be. I proceeded to tell her the entire story from the pieces could gather from what I knew and from what I had been told by Vinny and Tia.

She spoke up after I had finished the story, "Why didn't he take the money?"

"He didn't feel right about taking the extra payment." I answered, "He had fallen in love with your mother and wanted to marry her; the money didn't matter to him anymore."

"Then why didn't he go after her?" She asked, taking another bite of the bread with the menemen spread, "Why didn't he marry her?"

"He felt guilty for what happened." I answered, "He thought it would be best if he gave her some time, we all did."

"Do you think he would have found us sooner if he knew I had existed?"

"I do." I nodded. I had regretted not telling him when I found out, but it hadn't been my place to tell him. I then changed the subject, "Have you given any thought to what you want for Christmas?"

"A family." She answered.

"You have a family." I told her.

"No, I want a normal family." She corrected, "I want to have two parents and a sister or brother."

That did not as I had hoped.

"What about a pet or a doll or a book?" I asked her what I could actually feasibly get her that would be plausible this Christmas.

"A pet would be nice too." She responded, "A lot of families I read about have pets."

"You done?" I asked, referring to the food. She nodded, I then placed the plates in the sink. "How about we go look at some of the artifacts in the great hall?"

"Okay." She agreed. As I led her down to the great hall, I made a note to myself to have a discussion with Tia about what her daughter had been hoping to receive this Christmas.


	31. Leather and Lace

**Chapter Thirty – One: Leather and Lace**

**Tia's POV**

The storm cleared the evening of Christmas Eve. After Olivia went to bed, Vinny and I took advantage of the break in the storm to elope. It had seemed like the most practical thing to do. We just wanted to get married and neither of us saw the sense in having a wedding.

"What would you like to do now?" I asked my husband as we headed out of the church.

Vinny kissed my hand and then asked, "What would you like to do?"

"I'm not sure." I responded, "I'm sure we can figure out something when we get back."

"I can think of a few things."

When we got back to Grandfather's estate, we ducked into his study to let him know we were back. He had been sitting at his desk, looking through paperwork. He looked up when he heard us walk in, "How was your night?"

"Good." Vinny and I both answered.

"What did you do?" He asked, making conversation.

"Got married." I replied casually.

"Good." He nodded, "You two should have done that ages ago."

"You're not surprised?" I asked.

He raised an eyebrow, and then responded point blank, "You two have been in love with each other since you started working with the Smithsonian before he left for Iceland. You two may have not been able to see it, but we all could. I had a feeling when I started seeing you together more again that eventually you would. This is a little quicker than I thought it would though."

After a few more minutes of talking, he bid us both good night. Vinny and I walked back to my room, which we now shared.

"That went well."

Vinny nodded in agreement and asked, "Better than you expected?"

"I don't know what I was expecting to be honest."

"He was right though." Vinny responded, "I did have feelings for you before I left for Iceland."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't think you could ever love a man like me."

I gently rested my arms around his neck, "I do." He kissed my head, wrapping his arms around me. "Now, is there anything specific you'd like to do?"

"I can think of a few things."

**Olivia's POV**

Christmas morning I woke up before sunrise and headed to the sitting room to open my presents. I picked up my stocking sitting by the fireplace, opening candy cane sticking out of it and shoving it in my mouth. I then went through the stocking. It had been mostly candy, but there was a teddy bear. I opened all of my presents under the tree: books, dolls, clothes… All wonderful gifts. Not exactly what I wanted, but maybe what I wanted wasn't something anyone could give me.

"You're up early." I heard Mother say, "I see you decided not to wait for everyone else."

I turned to face her to tell her that I hadn't seen a point in waiting for anybody else and that it had just been a day where I happened to get more presents than everybody else, then I saw them. My mother and father were together. He had his arms around her waist and she had been drinking from tea cup.

My jaw dropped, she had a ring on her finger. I quickly caught the candy cane before it fell to the floor.

"We wanted to talk about something with you." Mother told me.

"You got married…" I said in awe, still staring at her ring.

"We did." She nodded, "Are you okay-"

Before she could finish, I told her, "Better than okay." I had gotten what I wanted for Christmas. "Can I have a pet?"

"I'll think about it when we get back home." Mother answered, which I could live with. I could always bother her about it when we get home.

"What about a sibling?" I asked her.

"How about we get something to eat?" She awkwardly changed the subject after a few moments. I held up my candy cane showing her I had something to eat. She corrected me, "Something slightly healthier than candy." I raised an eyebrow at her. It was Christmas, she didn't mind when I ate candy for breakfast last year. She took a deep breath, "C'mon, I brought some pastry recipes from Norway."

"You know changing the subject to food isn't going to make me forget you didn't answer my question." I pointed out.

**Tia's POV**

I looked up at Vinny, "Vuoi dire qualcosa?"

_(You want to say something?)_

"Non proprio." He responded, "Vuoi più bambini?"

_(Not really. Do you want more kids?)_

"Forse tra un anno o due. Siamo un po 'troppo impegnati con tutto ciò che sta accadendo proprio ora." I answered, "Dovremo parlarne più tardi e capire cosa vogliamo fare, ma non credo che siamo pronti per avere quella conversazione con lei."

_(Maybe in a year or two. We're a little too busy with everything going on right now. We'll have to talk about it later and figure out what we want to do, but I don't think we're ready to have that conversation with her.)_

"Non erano." He agreed.

_(We're not.)_

I looked back at Olivia who was looking at us completely confused.

"Can you teach me Italian?" She asked.

"Your father can." I volunteered him. Mole spoke French with her, Vinny might as well teach her Italian. They needed something that they could bond over.

She looked at Vinny.

"You want to learn?" He asked her, she nodded. "We'll start lessons as soon as we get back home."

"So, food?" I proposed again. She nodded.

As we headed to the kitchen, she asked Vinny, "Grandfather said you blow things up, can you teach me how do to that too?"

Vinny looked at me, "Potrei insegnarle come farlo in sicurezza."

_(I could teach her how to do that safely.)_

"Forse quando è più grande." I responded, "Guardare è una cosa, ma in realtà è un'altra."

_(Maybe when she's older. Watching is one thing, but her actually doing it is another.)_

"Maybe when you're older." He told her, "Why don't we concentrate on the Italian for now and then move to the explosives?"

"Okay."


	32. Preparations

**Chapter Thirty – Two: Preparations **

"So, do you want to get her a pet?" Vinny asked as we prepared Christmas dinner. We had kicked Cookie out of the kitchen so we could make a meal everyone could actually eat.

"I don't know." I shrugged, taking the bread out of the oven. I had never had a pet growing up, Grandfather and I were never in a place long enough to keep one and my parents didn't think it was a good idea after I had been attacked by a neighbor's dog. "If we do, I'd prefer to have a cat."

"Not a fan of dogs?"

"Not particularly." I responded, "Is getting a pet really what you want to talk about?"

He sighed, "No."

"You want to talk about kids."

"Yeah." He nodded, "How do you really feel about having more kids?"

I thought for a moment thinking about how to phrase it, and then told him, "I want more kids, but I don't know how I feel about physically having another kid. Having Olivia was difficult and I'm a little worried about putting my body through that again. If I do get pregnant, great, I'd love to have another kid; but if we're considering having multiple, I'd rather look into adoption before pregnancy." I waited a few moments for him to respond, he didn't. "Are you disappointed?"

He shook his head, "No, I had feeling there was more to it. We can look into it in a year or two."

"Is that almost done?" I asked referring to the pasta sauce.

"It's got a few more minutes, but we can start dessert in a bit."

"What is that by the way?"

"Bolognese." He responded, "We're going to pair it with the pappardelle." He nodded over to the pasta. "Any idea on what you want to do about dessert?"

"Well, we kind of have a bit of a theme going on here." I said, referring to all of the Italian food, "I have a recipe for this almond citrus cake with a chocolate glaze."

"Parrozzo?" He asked. I looked through the notebook I had used to collect recipes to find that cake, and he was right, that was it.

"Yeah." I confirmed, "Looks like I have a recipe for Vin Brulé too." I pointed to the recipe I had next to it.

He read through the recipe and then commented, "That could be good."

"And it would go well with the cake."

After preparing dinner, we sat down to dinner with Grandfather, Olivia, Cookie, Packard, and Branson. Grandfather raised his glass and gave a toast to togetherness, family, and to Milo and the others wherever they may be.

**Milo's POV**

"How far do you think we have left to go?" I asked Audrey curiously. We had been endlessly driving for days.

"We should be in Arizona by tomorrow." She answered, "Any idea what's going on over there?"

I shook my head, "Packard said Sweet would explain when we got there. He didn't really want to go into it over the radio."

"Fair enough." She nodded, "You never know who could be listening in."

"Same could be said about the phone." I pointed out, and then suggested, "Why don't we stop for the night? If we're really going to get there by tomorrow, we should probably get some sleep."

"Alright, when I come across a place to stop, we'll rest for the night."


	33. The Underground City

**Chapter Thirty – Three: The Underground City**

We arrived in Saguaro City, Arizona around midday. We dropped off our luggage in a local hotel and then headed to the clinic to see Sweet.

"Hi I'm Milo Thatch, we're here to see Dr. Sweet." I introduced myself to the blonde woman at the front desk.

"Annabeth." She nodded in acknowledgement, "It's good to see you again, Mr. Thatch. Joshua's in the patient's ward, but I don't think he'd mind if you all headed in. We've been expecting you. Just go down the hallway and make a right."

As we headed down to Sweet's office, I couldn't shake off the wave of shock that had washed over me. Annabeth Corey, the sole heiress of the Corey fortune, was working front desk at a rural clinic in Arizona. What had been the story there? I suppressed my curiosity and focused on the task at hand. It hadn't been my business anyway, I only knew her through Tia.

When Sweet saw us, he happily greeted and embraced each of us. We then went into the topic at hand: the reason why we were called out there.

"Sam's a long time field agent of Mr. Whitmore's; he's best at digging up hard to find objects." Sweet told us, "Only this time I think something found him."

"And you say he mentioned killer coyotes in a sandstorm?" I asked for clarification based on the information we were given when we were briefed before headed out here.

"No, not exactly." He replied, and then corrected, "More like a sandstorm made up of killer coyotes who were made up of sand."

"And this is unusual in your world?" Kida asked.

"Oh yeah," Sweet nodded, "More than a little bit."

Kida shook her head in confusion, "I do not understand why you wanted me here." Wordlessly, Sweet pulled out an amulet and handed it to her. She gasped in surprise, showing it to me, "Milo, it is Atlantean."

I picked it up from her hand and asked Sweet, "Where did you find this?"

"That you'll have to ask Sam." He gestured the elderly sleeping gentleman behind us.

When Sam woke up, we reassured him that we were with Mr. Whitmore and tended to his briefly needs before getting his statement on what happened. After he was finished, a nurse came out with his dinner, mentioning that he'll be moved to Scottsdale soon so that they can treat his injuries. With that in mind, I moved to questioning him about the amulet. He had found it in a pot in a crate in his shack. We got the address of the shack and went to investigate.

Sam's shack was not too far from the clinic, roughly twenty minutes down the road. When we went inside, it had been covered in sand and the crate Sam had mentioned was missing from the shack. We called to Sam to let him know, who in turn gave us the name of Ashton Carnaby. He gave the phone back to Anna, who had initially answered the phone, and she gave us the address of Carnaby's Ranch and trading post. We headed down to the trading post to get more information.

When we got to the trading post, we walked around the shop a bit, looking at the merchandise, before we were greeted by Carnaby. He approached us after Kida had taken an interest in a figure that had looked similar to an Atlantean guardian.

"How much is it?" Kida asked him as he headed behind the sales counter.

"Well that's a museum class piece." Carnaby responded.

"I bet there's a museum class price to go with it too." Sweet commented bitterly.

"It is rare and I've had offers..." Carnaby started to maul over the price.

"Is this enough?" Kida held up the wad of cash Tia had given us so we could eat and pay hotel fees. I had tried to stop her, but Carnaby finished the sale before I could get out the words. I made a mental note to call Tia and ask her or Mr. Whitmore to wire us more money so that we could get home when we needed to before asking Carnaby where he found the artifact that he happened to sell in his shop. He couldn't give us a straight answer other than assuring us that the older pieces were authentic. We tried to question him about the crate and Sam McCean, but he denied knowing anything about it. We were kicked out shortly after due to Mole licking one of the bowls.

As we drove away, we all agreed Carnaby was suspicious. That had been a short conversation when we started passing the same person multiple times while heading back to the clinic, almost running into him the third time. We offered him a ride, it was the least we could do since we had almost run into him. His name had been Chakashi and he was very familiar with the crystal guardian and with our lava dog, Obby. It wasn't too long after he started telling us about his people that we had been chased by a sandstorm. His eyes glowed red as the sand coyotes attacked the vehicle, and then he disappeared. When we were able to take in our surroundings, we noticed we were back at the trading post.

As Audrey started to work on the engine, we tried to shake down Carnaby for answers. He had still been denying he knew anything about what we were talking about until we mentioned the name Chakashi, which had actually been the name of a Nashoni wind spirit. While Carnaby was distracted by our questions, Mole took the opportunity to search his truck, finding the crate with the missing pottery. Carnaby had stolen it from Sam's shack while he had been in the hospital. To save his own skin, he suggested we return the pot to wherever it was from. Mole inspected the pot and informed us of the location it had been found in.

With Mole as our guide, we headed the fifteen miles to return the pot. When we reached the cave, the sandstorm of coyotes appeared. A tree fell in front of the entrance into the cave. Mole dug us a new one, which landed us in an underground city that had a blending of every culture from Idaho to Peru. Nashoni, Aztec, Mayan, and many others had been represented in the architecture. Even the crystal guardian had been a prominent feature.

"A little bit of Atlantis goes a long way." I reminded Kida, embracing her as she leaned into me. Carnaby, though, had plans for the city. He was going use the city to make himself rich, which he proudly declared as he knocked us out with sleeping gas.

We awoke to find we had been tied up. He had planned to leave us here as he destroyed the cave. He lit a bundle of dynamite and set it near the entrance of the cave. With some convincing of Obby, I was able to get myself untied. I tried to go after the dynamite, but Carnaby caught me before I got a chance. Luckily, Mole was able to get them out. Chakashi appeared shortly after turning Carnaby into one of his coyotes and transporting us out of the cave. He disappeared leaving us several stories off the ground.

"Any idea how to get down?" I asked the others.

"We climb and hope we don't die." Audrey responded.

"I don't think we have to worry too much about that." Sweet commented. We all gave him a confused look, to which he gestured down. There was a truck with someone standing outside of it. "I told Anna to give us an hour close up shop and then head out to this area to come and find us. Mole, do you think you can find a way to get down there to get the supplies and bring them back up so we can rappel down?" He nodded and started to make his way down.


	34. Payment for a Mishap

**Chapter Thirty – Four: Payment for a Mishap **

** Tia's POV**

"You spent how much money?!" I shrieked after hearing Milo start to break down what happened in Arizona. Milo tried to speak up, but I quickly cut him off, "No, you spent three thousand dollars and more than half of it was spent on a damn figurine! I have every right to be angry, I fronted the money for your trip out west. I hope that figurine was worth it because I'm not giving you another dime for this expedition. If it were good reason like mechanical repair, I'd give you the money, but what you did was just foolish. Kida, no offense to her, is the last person who should have been handling the money. I gave you the money because I thought you would be responsible with it, not hand it over to your wife who doesn't know how our currency works."

_**"Give me the phone, Milo, let me talk to her." **_ I could hear Mole tell him in the background. Milo handed him the phone._** "Veuillez nous envoyer plus d'argent. Audrey et moi ne devrions pas être coincés ici parce que c'est un crétin."**_

_(Please wire us more money. Audrey and I shouldn't have to be stuck here because he's a moron.)_

_**"Hey!"**_ Milo exclaimed in the background, _**"That's uncalled for!"**_

_**"Cela a été dit dans une conversation privée avec mon partenaire commercial, donc vous êtes impoli."**_Mole told him, not bothering to switch back to English.

(That was said in a private conversation with my business partner, so you're the one being rude.)

"Mole" I called his attention back to focus, "If I wire you more money, I'm not giving you anywhere near as much as I did before. Not when it's burned through for so little and so fast. How much do you realistically need to get back?" Mole started listing off expenses, mostly dealing with the truck. I groaned, "Put Audrey on the phone."

Mole passed the phone to Audrey.

"How much do you need for the truck and to get back?" I asked her.

_**"Hello to you too."**_ Audrey said,_** "Not surprised though, I'm not too happy about it either. We could probably fix the truck and get back with a couple hundred."**_

"You get three, no more." I told her, "That money is to be split between you and Mole. You get $150 to do what you can with the repairs on the truck, the other $150 goes to Mole for food and accommodation."

_**"That's fair."**_

"I'll wire you the money tomorrow." I told her, "Anything else I need to know?"

_**"Not anything that can't wait until after we get back."**_ Audrey answered.

"Have you already paid for your hotel?"

_**"Yeah, it's paid in full."**_Audrey answered, _**"Figured to pay up for a few days, we thought we'd be here longer."**_

"As soon as you get the money, do the repairs and get back here."

_**"Will do." **_

I hung up and looked over to Packard, "I'm done with the phone, you can call Margie back.

"Do you want me to have someone get you if they call back?" She asked as she started to dial her friend.

I shook my head, "No, just take a message and tell them I'll call them back."

She nodded and then called Margie back. I headed down the hall and ducked my head into Grandfather's study.

"Milo and the others heading back?" Grandfather asked. Branson had notified both of us when Milo had called, I was the one who happened to take the call.

"As soon as I wire them the money." I answered.

"I thought you paid them up front for the entire trip."

"I did." I confirmed, "There was a bit of a mishap with Kida paying more than she should have because Milo let her handle the money. I'm wiring Mole and Audrey more money so they can get back."

"I'll have Branson do it tomorrow morning while he's running errands for the house." Grandfather instructed, "I'd rather not have too many people head out now that the storm has picked back up again." He then made a note on the list he had currently.

"I hope you're not sending him out on too much."

"No, he should be back before noon."

"Good." I nodded and headed out.


End file.
